Thomas Earl
Cleland and his wife, the former Sylvia Boren are
natives of Brantley County and graduated from Nahunta
High School; Thomas Earl in the class of 1947, and
Sylvia in 1954.
Thomas "Earl" was born in Brantley
County, the son of William Alfred Cleland, Jr., and
Maude Alma Harris. Sylvia was born in Boston,
Georgia, the daughter of James Roy Boren from Quitman,
Georgia, and Thelma Louise Blocker of the Hickox area.
Sylvia's maternal grandparents were Patrick Henry
Blocker and Anna Wainright, descendants of early South
Georgia pioneers.
After graduating from Nahunta High
School in 1947, Thomas "Earl" departed Brantley County
in pursuit of a military career with the U. S. Air Force
(April, 1948). He achieved a Bachelor of Arts
degree in Business Management while serving with the Air
Force and studying with three major universities;
University of Maryland, University of Nebraska at Omaha,
and Bellevue University. After retiring from the U.S.
Air Force in 1968 with 20 years service, and a
college degree he enjoyed a 25 year career with the Blue
Cross and Blue Shield of Florida in Jacksonville,
as a Senior Planning Consultant with the Data Processing
Systems Division.
Thomas Earl and Sylvia were
married at First Baptist Church in Nahunta on July 9,
1955, by Rev. C. E. Milton.
Iris and Bowman Barr graciously provided the
musical accompaniment. Shortly after a brief
honeymoon in Florida, Thomas Earl and Sylvia departed
for an extended three-year honeymoon in Paris, France
where they resided near the Arc de Triomphe (de
Etoile). While awaiting the birth of their first
son, Tommy they experienced many promenades down the
Champs Elysee and enjoyed casual strolls through the
huge Louvre museum, seeing first hand the works of
Leonardo da Vinci's painting of Mona Lisa, as well as
the statues of Venus de Milo and Winged Victory.
After Tommy's birth, the Cleland family
moved to a gated home near the Seine River and explored
the many quaint villages and historical/cultural
exhibits of the French country side.
In contrast to the cultural,
historical explorations of their first home in Paris,
France, the Cleland family likes to reminisce about
their fun times in Newfoundland; Sylvia tobogganing down
the snow hills while awaiting the birth of their 2nd and
3rd children, Karen Anne and Mark William. While
experiencing short summers and an average snow-fall of
150 inches each year, these were some of the happiest
years for the Cleland family. Primarily because of
the Lord's blessing, the addition of two children, and
because of their involvement in building a church for
the Lord Jesus, housing 250-300 seats. We
won't mention the enjoyment of exploding taste buds
created by the North Atlantic harvest of 2 to 3 pound
lobster at the price of 50 cents each.
Thomas Earl adopted Brantley County
history as a "retirement project" in 1994, organized the
Brantley County Historical Society, served as its first
President (four years), and developed the Society's
newsletter (Armadillo Tracks), which he created and
edited over thirteen years. As founding
President of the Historical Society in 1997
he initiated numerous genealogical books and
spearheaded development and publication of Brantley
County's very first history book (published in 1999),
"The Story of Brantley County." This effort involved
researching and authoring most of the topical history
section himself, and fulfilling a life long dream of
leaving "footprints" in the snow white sands of
Brantley County.
In 2007, Thomas Earl finalized a
four year study honoring World War II Veterans from
Brantley County. This new book, published by the
Brantley County Historical Society presents a social and
political snapshot history of Brantley County during the
1941-1946 era. It contains names of over 800
veterans, including over 150 veteran pictures, with many
veteran stories; some who lost their lives during the
war; some that were maimed in battle; some prisoners of
war..
The Cleland family continues to
reside in Jacksonville, Florida, to be near their
children; Karen and Mark reside in Jacksonville with six
of their grandchildren. Their oldest son, Tommy
resides in Ocala, Florida, with three additional
grandchildren.
SEE INDEX - CLELAND FAMILY PICTURES
.
|
