{"id":16167,"date":"2015-02-03T23:23:54","date_gmt":"2015-02-04T04:23:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/?p=16167"},"modified":"2015-03-31T12:56:43","modified_gmt":"2015-03-31T16:56:43","slug":"evelyn-johnson-richard-himphen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/evelyn-johnson-richard-himphen\/","title":{"rendered":"Moonlight Serenade"},"content":{"rendered":"

How did they meet?<\/p>\n

She once told me of all the dances she used to enjoy as a young woman, so I like to imagine them dancing to Glen Millers\u2019 Moonlight Serenade, which was top of the charts then.\u00a0The tall red-headed soldier and diminutive brunette with sparkling eyes and a ready smile would have made a striking couple on the dance floor.<\/p>\n

They lived within two blocks of one another in Silverthorne, where they also wed.<\/p>\n

She had lived in the same Toronto neighbourhood, between the train tracks and Calendonia, north of St. Claire West and south of Eglinton since her\u00a0birth on February 3, 1921. Her parents lived at 117 Laughton Avenue then.<\/p>\n

By the time Evelyn and Richard married in the Baptist Church at the corner of Weston Road and Rowntree on January 28, 1942, her parents had moved to a duplex just south of the church on Weston Road. His parents lived in a cottage at 179 Dunraven Drive just north of there.<\/p>\n

The church in which they married no longer stands, but his parents\u2019 home still exists, as does her parents\u2019 duplex, 663 Old Weston Road. It was there that Evelyn received three telegrams and 11 letters from the Department of National Defence when he was in Italy.<\/p>\n

Richard was still in Halifax when they got married. He was granted furlough and given permission to fly home to Toronto on January 19 to attend their wedding nine days later. They only had two nights beyond their wedding night together before he was back on base taking a junior leader\u2019s CSE.<\/p>\n

She turned 21 a week later. He turned 22 two days after that.<\/p>\n

They only saw each other once more before he died, in August 1942.\u00a0Their daughter Marilyn, my mother, was born the following April. He was posted to Britain by then and then Italy. He served as a Sapper with the Irish Regiment.<\/p>\n

After my mother turned one, the Minister of National Defence began sending letters and telegrams to Mrs. Evelyn Doris Himphen.\u00a0The first arrived on June 16, 1944.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am directed to inform you that official information now received from Canadian Military Headquarters, Overseas, advises that he was accidentally wounded in action on the 4th<\/sup> of May 1944\u201d wrote Colonel C. L. Laurin.<\/p>\n

Richard healed fully from that injury and the summer was bright.<\/p>\n

A pink telegram from Canadian Pacific Telegraph arrived on September 23, 1944. It carried tough news.<\/p>\n

\u201cMINISTER OF NATIONAL DEFENCE SINCERELY REGRETS TO INFORM YOU B79066 SAPPER RICHARD CHARLES HIMPHEN HAS BEEN OFFICIALLY REPORTED AGAIN WOUNDED IN ACTION DATE NOT YET AVAILABLE BECOMING SERIOUSLY ILL FIFTEEN SEPTEMBER 1944 NATURE OF SECOND WOUND DESCRIBED AS WOUND TO SPINE DORSAL STOP WHEN ADDRESSING MAIL ADD WORDS IN HOSPITAL IN BOLD LETTERS AFTER NAME OF UNIT FOR QUICK DELIVERY STOP IF ANY FURTHER INFORMATION BECOMES AVAILABLE IT WILL BE FORWARDED AS SOON AS RECEIVED.\u201d<\/p>\n

Richard never recovered.<\/p>\n

Colonel Laurin continued updating Evelyn via letters on September 29 and October 5th<\/sup> before a blue telegram arrived on October 10th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

\u201cMINISTER OF NATIONAL DEFENCE SINCERELY REGRETS TO INFORM YOU B79066 SAPPER RICHARD CHARLES HIMPHEN HAS NOW BEEN OFFICIALLY REPORTED DANGEROUSLY ILL FOURTH OCTOBER 1944 STOP WHEN FURTHER INFORMATION BECOMES AVAILABLE IT WILL BE FORWARDED AS SOON AS RECEIVED.\u201d<\/p>\n

Richard died of his wounds on October 12, 1944.<\/p>\n

Thirteen days later, another pink telegram arrived for Evelyn at 663 Old Weston Road:
\n\"DSC09494\"<\/p>\n

Colonel Laurin followed up with a letter dated the 10th<\/sup> of November to provide all the documents that Evelyn would have to fill out to make claims on\u00a0Richard’s\u00a0estate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How did they meet? She once told me of all the dances she used to enjoy as a young woman, so I like to imagine them dancing to Glen Millers\u2019 Moonlight Serenade, which was top of the charts then.\u00a0The tall red-headed soldier and diminutive brunette with sparkling eyes and a ready smile would have made […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_wp_convertkit_post_meta":{"form":"-1","landing_page":"0","tag":"0","restrict_content":"0"},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[103],"tags":[606,603,600,605,602,601,604],"class_list":["post-16167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family-history-writing","tag-606","tag-baptist-church","tag-evelyn-doris-johnson","tag-january-28","tag-married","tag-richard-himphen","tag-weston-road-and-rowntree","post-wrapper","thrv_wrapper"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2buQs-4cL","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":19673,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/charlotte-and-arthurs-war-time-wedding\/","url_meta":{"origin":16167,"position":0},"title":"Charlotte and Arthur\u2019s War-Time Wedding","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"May 29, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I never asked my great granny Charlotte about her wedding, but the records I\u2019ve found hint at lots of intrigue. Did they plan a summer wedding and then rush things to avoid conscription? Had they initially hoped to marry in the church next to her home but lost the opportunity\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Genealogy Ensemble"","block_context":{"text":"Genealogy Ensemble","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/history-worth-remembering\/genealogy-ensemble-history-worth-remembering\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Charlotte, Arthur and Evelyn","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/CharlotteArthurEvelyn.jpg?fit=1200%2C821&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/CharlotteArthurEvelyn.jpg?fit=1200%2C821&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/CharlotteArthurEvelyn.jpg?fit=1200%2C821&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/CharlotteArthurEvelyn.jpg?fit=1200%2C821&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/CharlotteArthurEvelyn.jpg?fit=1200%2C821&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17559,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/four-generations-weston\/","url_meta":{"origin":16167,"position":1},"title":"Four Generations Grow up in Weston","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"February 23, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"One of my earliest memories has me\u00a0travelling by bus to the Weston library with my mother, grandmother and great grandmother. For some reason, the Carnegie Foundation in New York provided a grant to build the stunning structure in 1914 despite its Ontario location along the Humber River.[1] I\u2019ll always be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Genealogy Ensemble"","block_context":{"text":"Genealogy Ensemble","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/history-worth-remembering\/genealogy-ensemble-history-worth-remembering\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Charlotte, Arthur and Evelyn","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/CharlotteArthurEvelyn.jpg?fit=1200%2C821&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/CharlotteArthurEvelyn.jpg?fit=1200%2C821&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/CharlotteArthurEvelyn.jpg?fit=1200%2C821&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/CharlotteArthurEvelyn.jpg?fit=1200%2C821&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/CharlotteArthurEvelyn.jpg?fit=1200%2C821&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15500,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/farewell-sergeant-himphen\/","url_meta":{"origin":16167,"position":2},"title":"Farewell Sergeant Himphen","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"February 6, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I have been searching for any information about my dad Sergeant Richard Charles Himphen since I was a very little girl. My mother has now passed away and did not ever want to share information about him and I suppose always found it to be such a sad time in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Family History Writing"","block_context":{"text":"Family History Writing","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/history-worth-remembering\/family-history-writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/RichardCharlesHimphen.jpg?fit=500%2C628&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":21904,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/paul_charboneau\/","url_meta":{"origin":16167,"position":3},"title":"Did the 1936 Heat Wave Kill Great Great Granddad?","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"January 11, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"An eight-day heat wave that remains the hottest on record may have shortened the life of my great great granddad, who was 96 years old that year. 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