Whatever happened to Cleora?

Cleora Kay New married Vera's youngest brother, Martin Taylor, when he was in the military during WWII.  Some of the family didn't regard Cleora very well, thinking she married Martin for the military benefits, so not much more family info could be found regarding what happened to her after Martin went Missing in Action.

Through some online detective work, I've discovered these various documents about Cleora:

1930 Census info confirmation:

SOURCE: ancestry.com

 I located Cleora on the 1930 census, and extracted vital dates and her parents names to help with later identification on future records.

Later marriage record:

SOURCE: familysearch.org
Vol 73, film 1939813, image 379

Some further sleuthing led me to a marriage record of a "Cleora K Taylor" marrying a "Carl B. Stephens" on 26 Aug 1946 in Montana.
This would indicate that after Martin went missing in 1944, Cleora maintained her married name, moved from the midwest out to Walla Walla, WA where she met Mr. Stephens, and married him in Montana 3 years after her marriage to Martin in South Dakota.  Interesting to note that both Cleora and Carl were born in Kansas.

Obituary:

SOURCE: Tri City Herald, 5 Dec 2007
 Washington State Library, email request May 2013

Obituary transcribed:
Cleora K. Stephens
Cleora K. Stephens, 85, of Kennewick, died Dec 3 in Kennewick.
She was born in Norcatur, Kan., and lived in the Tri-Cities for 56 years.
She was a homemaker.
Mueller's Tri-Cities Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

This later evidence concludes that Cleora and Carl Stephens lived out the rest of their lives in Washington, raising a family.  I have found lingering possibilities of descendants of theirs from online sources, but have not as yet had success in contacting them in person.
Still, it's an interesting conclusion to what was once a family mystery as to her whereabouts.

"Martin & Cleora Taylor"
From the personal albums of Cheryl Murray

Martin Taylor photos and such

The following are additional photos and scanned paper items of Martin Taylor, Vera's youngest brother.  All photos and articles are from the personal albums of Della/Gene Nyberg.

Martin's birth certificate
and notes from his sister Della's book of remembrance

Notes transcribed:

"Mart was the last but not least in this large family.  He was such a beautiful baby.  His skin was so fair, he had brown eyes and red hair.  He was loved so much and had so many to take care of him.  He was a joy to his parents when all the rest had married and gone.  He was an honor to his country.  He gave his life for it."

*Punctuation & spelling adjusted by me.

Martin in coveralls

Martin with large hat

Martin and his baby nephew Gene

Labeled as, "Some of Mart's art"

Martin on the family farm

Labeled as Martin "raising some bum lambs to get some spending money"

Martin's Seminary Graduation Award

Labeled as "Our Handsome Young Man"

Martin at time of enlistment,
with notes written in sister Della's book of remembrance

Notes transcribed:

"When Mart went to Salt Lake to join the Air Corps April 1941.  Ralph thought that would be the best place for him to get and helped him get everything fixed up to enlist."

Labeled as "Martin (far left) and 2 buddies in the service" 

Martin Taylor & Cleora Kay New

Martin Taylor was Vera's youngest brother.
He married Cleora Kay New (of South Dakota?) on 25 Oct 1943 possibly on a military base in South Dakota.
Thus, she became Cleora Kay New Taylor.

Photo from the personal albums of Althea Gray

Newspaper notice:

SOURCE: Vernal Express 1943, Nov 4, p.8

Newspaper notice transcribed:

Mrs. Roxa Taylor received word that her son Martin Taylor and Cleora Kay New of South Dakota were married October 25.  Martin has been in the Air Corps 2 1/2 years and is stationed at South Dakota.

Photo from the personal albums of Clayton Huber
Apparently taken in Salt Lake City, UT at Ralph & Ruth Taylor's house before he left for the Pacific.

I have been unable to track down a marriage record for these two, and am unsure how easily that may be obtained as the marriage is assumed to have happened on or near the military base Martin was stationed on in South Dakota.  Apparently the Taylor family was not too fond of this sudden marital union and considered Cleora only marrying Martin for the benefits that came with being war bride.

After Martin was listed as LIA in Nov 1944, a military letter was addressed to Cleora in Salt Lake City, Utah, but she vanishes off the radar from that point forward.  I can only assume that she remarried, but finding any further information on her has proved terribly difficult.  Martin's military card lists her location as "Norcatur, Kansas" and the newspaper notice above states that she is from "South Dakota" so hopefully either of these locations may yield good leads on tracking her down in the future.  (Check THIS post for the military info on Martin Taylor & letters sent regarding him.)  If anything new develops on her story, I will post it here.

Letters regarding Martin Taylor

What you are about to see is a goldmine of discovery found within the genealogy books of Della Nyberg, who then passed the book onto her son, who then so graciously let me scan its contents.

What follows here is the correspondence between Martin Taylor's military superiors and Martin's family back home during WWII when he went missing over Japan.  To read the contents of each letter you'll have to click on the letter's image to read what is printed, or open each one up in a new page so see it in a larger font.

I've also included a few more personal letters between Martin and his family that give a real taste for what Martin was like and what was going through his head at the time.  Once again, I did not transcribe these to maintain a level of reverence for some of his parting words.  Click on the images to read them more clearly.

Letter from Martin to his mom, dated Sept 22, 1944

Transcribed letter from Martin to his family- straight from genealogy book page
date unknown, but it's indicated as the last letter he sent home.

Letter to Martin from sister, Della.  Dated Nov 24, 1944.
Martin's crew went missing Nov 29, 1944.
He never got this letter, and it was returned to it's sender.

Newspaper clipping regarding Martin Taylor missing in action.
No source listed, found in the genealogy books of Della Nyberg.
Assumed a local paper, perhaps Vernal Express in 1944 or 1945?

Newspaper clipping transcribed:

T/Sgt. Martin V. Taylor, 24, son of Mrs. Roy Taylor, Lapoint, Uintah county, is missing in action over Japanese territory since Nov. 29, a brother Ralph Taylor, Salt Lake City, was informed.

Sgt. Taylor is a native of Lapoint, and was born April 19, 1920.  He is a graduate of Alterra high school, and was study body president in his senior year.  He enlisted in the army in May 1941, and had been overseas since November, 1944.  He was a radio-gunner on a B-29.

Awaiting further word, besides his mother, is his wife, Mrs. Cleora Kay Taylor, Los Angeles; five sisters, Mrs. Clarence Jensen, Bremerton, Wash.; Mrs. Coy Hayward, Bountiful; Mrs. Roy Huber and Mrs. George Nyberg, Lapoint; Mrs. Keith Ross, Vernal, and five brothers, Rex Taylor, Lapoint; Leslie Taylor, Leeton; Sherman Taylor, Meeker, Colo.; Roy Taylor, Bridgeland, and Ralph Taylor, Salt Lake City.

Military letter sent to Cleora Kay Taylor (Martin's wife)
informing her that her husband is missing in action.
How this letter fell into the hands of Martin's sister I don't know.
Letter dated 1 Jan 1945.

Letter regarding a Lt. Hodson, likely someone on the same mission as Martin.
It gives further details of what the military knew of his crew's disappearance.
I'm assuming this was a copy sent to Martin's family.
Dated 24 Jan 1945.

This letter relates to the letter above.  It's from Lt. Hodson's father (Fremont B. Hodson)
addressed to Martin's mother.  With this letter he sent a copy of the information
he had received above from the military.
Dated 14 February 1945.

Letter from the Quartermaster General to Martin's mother
updating her on the sad business of still finding no trace of Martin's crew.
Dated 4 Dec 1947.

Another letter from the Quartermaster General to Martin's mother
informing her that no wreckage or remains were ever found of the bombing mission.
Dated 4 Apr 1949

A final letter from the Army to Martin's mother
finalizing his presumed death date as 29 Nov 1944.
Dated 28 Oct 1949

A letter from the Meditation Chapel in Memory Park, Salt Lake City, UT to Martin's mother
regarding a memorial with Martin's name included on it.
Dated Sept 12, 1949.

I feel it a blessing to have copies of these letters which tell a beautifully somber story about those who sacrificed so greatly, and those who mourned their loss and still anticipate their reunion.

Photo from personal albums of Della/Gene Nyberg and Cheryl Murray
Thank you, Sgt. Martin Taylor.

Death info on Martin V. Taylor

Martin V. Huber was Vera's youngest brother.

Photo is from the personal album of Clayton Huber.

According to these documents, the following dates apply:

BIRTH: 19 Apr 1920; Lapoint, Uintah, Utah

DEATH: [Assumed] 29 Nov 1944; Japanese Territory

Martin never made it back from a bombing mission over Tokyo during WWII.

Promotion mention in newspaper:

SOURCE: Vernal Express 1942, Dec 3, p.1-1

Article transcribed:

Randlett Soldier Receives Promotion in Air Corps

Sergeant Martin V Taylor who is stationed at the field has recently been promoted to the grade of Technical Sergeant in the United States Army Air Forces. He is the son of Roy Taylor Randlett.

Sergeant Taylor enlisted in the army at Fort Douglas Utah, May 9, 1941.

Photo is from the personal album of Rhea Merkley.

Newspaper casualty/missing list:

SOURCE: Salt Lake Telegram 1945, Jan 10, p.11

(This article has been cropped and adjusted to address the report on Martin Taylor specifically)

Missing Report transcribed:

T/Sgt. Martin V. Taylor, 24, AAF, husband of Mrs. Cleora Kay Taylor, Los Angeles, and son of Mrs. Roy Taylor, Lapoint. Missing in action over Japan, Nov 29.

WWII military card:

SOURCE: ancestry.com (source particulars located on image below card)

This military card provides a wealth of information on his vital information (birthdate, parents, hometown, etc) and of his duty within the military (a radio-gunner on a B-29) but more importantly gives a dated play-by-play on what they knew about his disappearance and when they sent out notification letters to his mother and spouse (who apparently at the time was living in Norcatur, Kansas?) Very sad business.

Veterans with Federal Service memorial info:

SOURCE: familysearch.org

This is what Vera had to say about it in her written life history:

"... we received word that my youngest brother, Martin, was missing in action over Japan. The word was received on November 29, 1944, and my mother couldn't bring herself to accept this and always hung on to the hope that he may still be alive..."

Photo is from the personal album of Clayton Huber.

A great photo except for the unfortunate scratch right in the middle of his face.

Headstone located in the Lapoint Cemetery, Lapoint, Utah
Photo taken by me.