BEAUTIFUL ELLEN
The family’s third American
generation was graced by Ellen Bonn Burleson Guild, daughter of Nell Kirkman Bonn
and George J. Bonn of Palisades Park, NJ.EBBG, as Ellen III called
herself in her extensive family records, was a lovely woman: tall, dark-haired, curvaceous
and leggy. She was beautiful. inside and out.
Born in midtown Manhattan on Feb. 24, 1914, Ellen III had a part-tragic, part-fulfilling life. She married twice, at 17 and in her early forties, but both ended in divorce. Her worst tragedy
occurred on the night of Feb.18, 1942 when she lost the man she truly loved, Edward Nack, a crewman on the U.S.S. Pollux, a Navy supply ship that was one of two vessels wrecked by a storm on the southern coast of Newfoundland.Harried by a powerful Atlantic gale, the Pollux and destroyer Truxton tried to claw their way into the strait that leads to the naval base at Argentia Bay, Newfoundland. Instead, the ships were driven onto the rocky coast near St. Lawrence, Newfoundland .Both crews bandoned ship and desperately tried to swim ashore through enormous waves. The gallant people of St. Lawrence climbed down huge, rocky cliffs to rescue 168 floundering sailors, but 200 were lost, including Edward Nack. Ellen was devastated.
In grateful recognition of the heroism of the people of St. Lawrence, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had a hospital built for the village.
Ellen spent much of her life as a telegrapher and radio operator for Western Union and the Press Wire Service in Manhattan's Times Square and the United Nations’ headquarters in Lake Success, Long Island and Manhattan.
Ellen’s greatest success was her lifelong relationship with her only child, Gene Edward Burleson. They were unusually devoted, and Gene ended his 22-year Air Force career to provide a home for his ailing mother during the last years of her life.
EBBG also will always be remembered for compiling her enormous dossier on the Kirkman, Lee and Burleson families. Ellen III died in Oklahoma City after a stroke on Dec. 26, 1977 age 63). She’s buried in Oklahoma City Memorial Park. near her son's home.
Born in midtown Manhattan on Feb. 24, 1914, Ellen III had a part-tragic, part-fulfilling life. She married twice, at 17 and in her early forties, but both ended in divorce. Her worst tragedy
occurred on the night of Feb.18, 1942 when she lost the man she truly loved, Edward Nack, a crewman on the U.S.S. Pollux, a Navy supply ship that was one of two vessels wrecked by a storm on the southern coast of Newfoundland.Harried by a powerful Atlantic gale, the Pollux and destroyer Truxton tried to claw their way into the strait that leads to the naval base at Argentia Bay, Newfoundland. Instead, the ships were driven onto the rocky coast near St. Lawrence, Newfoundland .Both crews bandoned ship and desperately tried to swim ashore through enormous waves. The gallant people of St. Lawrence climbed down huge, rocky cliffs to rescue 168 floundering sailors, but 200 were lost, including Edward Nack. Ellen was devastated.
In grateful recognition of the heroism of the people of St. Lawrence, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had a hospital built for the village.
Ellen spent much of her life as a telegrapher and radio operator for Western Union and the Press Wire Service in Manhattan's Times Square and the United Nations’ headquarters in Lake Success, Long Island and Manhattan.
Ellen’s greatest success was her lifelong relationship with her only child, Gene Edward Burleson. They were unusually devoted, and Gene ended his 22-year Air Force career to provide a home for his ailing mother during the last years of her life.
EBBG also will always be remembered for compiling her enormous dossier on the Kirkman, Lee and Burleson families. Ellen III died in Oklahoma City after a stroke on Dec. 26, 1977 age 63). She’s buried in Oklahoma City Memorial Park. near her son's home.