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1923 Louis William Finch


Born: May  8, 1923 at Walton, Delaware Co., New York 

Died: Apr. 5, 2010 in Euless, Tarrant, Texas, age 86

Buried: May  5, 2010 at Arlington National Military Cemetery


His father was Clifford D. Finch.

His mother was Florence K. (Finch).


He was a graduate of Deposit Central High School; the year is not
known for certain but was probably 1940; I found a school photo in 
the H.S. yearbook for 1940 showing Louis.  He was a member of the 
Glee Club, Band, Orchestra, Press Club, Track, and the "Aggies".

His nickname was "Louie".  

His yearbook inscription reads:

  "An easy-minded soul and always was."



Louis was married about 1943 to 1923 Doris Gladys Sherman.
They had no children.  

He was working for the "American Separator Company" in Bainbridge, NY
at the time of his registration for the military draft June 30, 1942.

The company was founded in 1895 by Ernest Hartmann, and it made the
first known device for separating cream from milk - hence the name.

He listed his mother, Mrs. Florence Finch, as next of kin, living at 
6 Dean Street in Deposit, NY at that time - June 30, 1942.  Thus, we
speculate that he was not yet married in June 1942.  His draft card 
shows that he was 6 feet two inches tall and weighed 180 pounds.

Louis enlisted in the Army Air Corps (now the U.S. Air Force) on
Jan. 30, 1943; he was honorably discharged on Nov. 2, 1945.  He
re-enlisted on Nov. 20, 1945 and was discharged on Oct. 1, 1948.

I found this information about Louis, gleaned from a newspaper article
in the Bainbridge News & Republican, dated November 16, 1944:

  Staff Sergeant Louis W. Finch, of Bainbridge R.D. 2 [Chenango County, NY],
  a top turret gunner on a B-24 Bomber, is reported missing in action
  in the Italian Theatre of War since Oct. 23, according to word received
  by his wife, Doris Sherman Finch, from the War Department.  
  


  Staff Sergeant Finch entered the service on January 29, 1943.  He
  received his training at Buckley Field Armory School, Colorado,
  and the Harlingen Gunnery School, Texas.  The young sergeant had
  participated in major attacks on such strategic targets as the 
  Ploesti Oil refineries, the Herman Goering Tank Works, the Szolnoh
  Railroad, Hungary, the Szeged Railroad, Hungary, and other important
  targets in Hungary, Germany, France and Italy.  He had just been 
  awarded the Air Medal and Oak-Leaf Cluster.  After graduation from
  Deposit Central High School, he was employed as a machinist at the
  Casein Company, Bainbridge; Casein invented Elmer's Glue and was
  later bought out by the Borden Company (logo: Elsie the cow).

Below right is a photo of the "Future Farmers of America" club at 
Deposit Central High School, Louis is at center of the back row.

Also here is a note from his selective service file - it shows that
Louis was living with 1914 Ralph Axtell and wife 1915 Leta Sherman 
at the time of his induction into the service in June, 1942.  
About that, my cousin Vonnie Berman (nee Yvonne Axtell) writes:

  In 1942, when my Dad (Ralph Axtell) went into the service, my
  mother's sister "Dodie" (Doris Sherman) came to stay with her.
  It took me some time to realize that Louis Finch's wife, Doris,
  was my Aunt Dodie.  So it seems that the couple was staying on
  the farm with my mother.  My mother worked at the Bendix/Scintilla
  plant in Sidney at that time.  Perhaps Aunt Dodie did as well?  
  Louis went into the service in 1943, and also in 1943 my mother 
  moved to Biloxi, Mississippi to be with my Dad.
  
  After my mother, Leta, died in 1974, my grandmother, Helen Sherman,
  came to stay with us for a week.  In the evenings while I cooked
  or washed up, she would sit nearby and reminisce about her life
  and my mother's.  The part about the war years included Aunt Dodie.


Louis and Doris divorced about 1948 or 1949.

Louis was married to Nelda Virginia Smith in Texas on Feb. 5, 1952,
at the age of 28.  We don't know when Nelda was born but apparently
she was born in Texas.  They had five children together:

  (Dau) Living Finch
  (Son) Robert Finch
  (Dau) Ellen Finch (Guillen)
  (Dau) Floydine Finch
  (Dau) Mardi Finch (Hinesly)
  
In 1958 they were living in Midland, Texas; Louis was 35 years old.

Louis and Nelda were divorced May 30, 1975 in Ector, Texas, when
Louis was 52.

Louis then married Elenor Koehl on Feb. 26, 1976 at Ector, Texas.
At the time, Louis was 52 years old and Elenor was 62 years old.

Here are copies of Louis' Selective Service card, front and back.