Mary Orlena (Spafford) Thomas (1894 - 1983)

Born 18 May 1894 in Laramie, Albany, Wyoming, USA

Ancestors

Wife of Mark Ora Clement — married 17 Oct 1924 (to 1945) in Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii

Wife of Clarence Lafayette Thomas — married 25 May 1945 in Honolulu, Oahu, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States

Descendants

Died 2 Dec 1983 at age 89 in Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Michelle Brown [send private message] and John Clement [send private message]

Biography

Name: Mary Orlena Spafford.

Born 18 MAY 1894. Laramie, Albany County, Wyoming. ^[1]

Marriage
Husband Mark Ora Clement.
Wife Mary Orlena Spafford.
Marriage 17 OCT 1924. Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii. ^[2]
Divorce: ABT 1945. Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii. ^[1]

Husband Clarence Lafayette Thomas.
Wife Mary Orlena Spafford.
Marriage 25 MAY 1945. Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii. ^[1]

Died 02 DEC 1983. Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii. ^[1]

Social Security Number 576-24-0779 issued at Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii. ^[3]

Narrative: Mary Spafford was a graduate of the University of Wyoming, majoring in home economics. She also became a registered nurse, taking her training at John Hopkins University of Maryland.
After nurses training, she was known to be at the Children's Hospital in Denver, Colorado. At the Colorado State Archives, book number 22214N records the issuance of certificates to registered nurses. Certificate 3283 was issued to Mary O. Spafford on 26 March 1921; residence, Denver, Colorado; training school, John Hopkins;graduated, 10 September 1920 at Baltimore, Maryland; also a registered nurse in Maryland.

Mary wrote a letter to a friend in Laramie, Wyoming describing her trip to and her first experiences in the Hawaiian Islands. This letter was published in the early 1920s in the Laramie Republican-Boomerang. She writes the beach at Waikiki was a disappointment because the sandy beach is so limited, compared to the beaches of California. Not yet married, Mary writes, "When the moon is at its best I defy anyone to resist the romantic atmosphere produced by moonlight and Hawaiian music." On 17 October 1924, Mary become a bride in Honolulu.

Mary O. Spafford, nurse, residence 2189 Kalia Road, Apartment 14 (Honolulu City Directory, 1924, p. 440).

In the 1930s and early 1940s, Mary Spafford Clement was employed by the U.S. Government as a social worker/investigator for the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, Works Progress Administration and the Selective Service at Honolulu.

Some weeks after the breakout of hostilities when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Mary Clement and her three daughters evacuated from the Islands and moved to Laramie, Wyoming, her hometown.

In a undated newspaper clipping contained in her mother's scrapbook, it was reported Mary evacuated not because of the danger of another Japanese attack, put the move was prompted by the over crowded conditions in Honolulu prompted by the war build up. In another undated newspaper clipping, it is reported that the 1943 Laramie Ice Follies contained a Hawaiian Hula Ice Skate routine, presented by the Clement sisters.

Before the war ended, Mary was back in Honolulu, and on 7 December 1944 she applied for her Social Security Account and was assigned account number 576-24-0779 (her earlier employment with U.S. agencies did not require Social Security contributions). She listed Defense Launderers as her employer, which was operated by her husband. Shortly after she was divorced and by 25 May 1945 she was married to Clarence L. Thomas. ^[1]

Poem contained in Anna Washburn Spafford's scrapbook, this item probably was written circa 1917 by a boarder at the house:

Out to Laramie, Wyoming. Came a maid both bright and gay. From Nebraska's sun-baked prairies,. Came our Anna one glad day.

Went to school this little lady. For a year or two,. Graduated from our high school,. Honors not a few.

Then our little Anna Washburn,. Not a little bit afraid. Went back to Nebraska. To learn the printers' trade.

There she met a clever dandy,. Whose eyes were brown not green. He idolized our Anna. She at last became his queen.

Then the time passed swiftly by. And there came a little son,. Who reigned supremely over all. And had a heap of fun.

Then there came a little daughter,. Mary Orlena her name. She was more than two years younger,. But she was mistress just the same.

Her kindergarten was at home. And she was sure some singer. But when she went to public school,. She proved to be a dinger.

Her second grade she quickly made. In just one short half day. So the third grade she went at once. And there a year did stay . In public speaking she did shine. Although a trifle shy,. Her masterpiece, we must admit. Was on a pumpkin pie.

Her sweetheart days arrived so soon,. That she was called Miss Fast. But we must now relate to you. Those love relations did not last.

In Seventh grade she was encored. In eighth, she got another. But when she reached her high school,. She progressed just like her mother.

When graduation days had come. She was surely awful glad. She was first who graduated. Of the children of a grad.

Her college days at Wyo. U. Began in nineteen twelve. She gave a dancing party. That put Father on the shelve.

The Pi Phi's got her for a pledge. Ward Goodrich won her heart. But all the time she learned to cook. And studied hard this art.

When Junior days came on apace,. And she attained a serious bent,. Her class did think she was the best. And made her president.

But senior days alack, alas,. They would not let her be. From Rock Springs came an urgent call. To come down and teach H.E.

So here she is to graduate!. A trifle older now is she. Her mother says without a doubt. She's now reached twenty three. ^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} Source: #S55
2. ↑ Source: #S217
3. ↑ Source: #S668 accessed 28 Nov 2000
4. ↑ Source: #S50

• Source: S50 Scrapbooks kept by Anna (Washburn) Spafford. Originals in the possession of Katherine (Clement) Baumann. Extracted some photocopies in possession of the compiler
• Source: S55 Compiler's knowledge, facts known to the compiler John Clement
• Source: S668 Social Security Death Index. Online at various locations, generated from the U.S. Social Security Administration Death Master File containing records of deceased persons who possessed SS numbers and whose death had been reported to the SSA
• Source: S217 Interview of Mark O. Clement, Honolulu newspaper article written by Nash Witten, circa 1934. Photocopy held by the compiler, from original in Anna (Washburn) Spafford's scrapbook in the custody of Katherine (Clement) Baumann.