USA > Massachusetts > The story of western Massachusetts, Volume IV > Part 24
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Mr. Rice is a factor in banking affairs also in West- ern Massachusetts, being a member of the board of trustees and vice president of the Berkshire County Savings Bank and also holding a seat on the board of directors of the Agricultural National Bank, both of these financial institutions being situated in Pittsfield. He also sits on the boards of directors of the Pitts- field Coal Gas Company and of the New England Lime Company, the latter being located at Adams.
Mr. Rice was a member of the Common Council, 1923 and 1924, and was a member and president of the board of aldermen, 1925. He is an influential mem- ber of the Pittsfield Chamber of Commerce, and be- longs to the Country Club of Pittsfield. During and since college days he has been affiliated with the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity. His religious affiliation is with the First Congregational Church. Still an en- thusiastic athlete, Mr. Rice now finds his chief recrea- tion in skiing and tennis.
At Bennington, Vermont, on June 5. 1915, William T. Rice was married to Agnes van Santvoord of that city and of Troy, New York. Mrs. Rice is a daughter of Seymour and Caroline (Shields) van Santvoord. She is prominent in women's club and social circles. She is a member of the hospital board of the House of Mercy and also on the board of Little Wanderers. Of this marriage there are the following children: I. John H., who was born on April 16, 1919. He attended the Hotchkiss School before matriculating at his father's alma mater, Williams College, where he took his Bachelor of Arts degree upon graduating with the
1
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class of 1941. Subsequently he studied at the Harvard School of Business Administration. During World War II, John H. Rice served in the United States Army. He is now associated with his father in busi- ness and is active in civic affairs. He is on the board of directors of the Community Fund and the Y.M.C.A. He married and is the father of one son, Michael Tal- bot Rice, who was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1942. 2. Peter van S., born on January 13, 1923. He graduated from the Hotchkiss School and, in the family tradition, from Williams College, and the Har- vard Business School and is now associated with his father. During the recent World War II, he joined the United States Marine Corps and, with the rank of a second lieutenant, saw service in the Pacific Theater of Operations. He is married to the former Jane A. Gidley, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Everett Gidley of Kinderhook, Columbia County, New York. Of this marriage there is one child, Peter Gidley Rice, who was born at the Hudson Hospital in the city of Hudson, New York, September 17, 1945.
RAYMOND A. LYMAN-Raymond A. Lyman, whose life is devoted primarily to farming in East- hampton, is nonetheless, like his father, a public- spirited man, active in varied civic and business af- fairs. He serves at present as chairman of the board of county commissioners of Hampshire County, has been selectman of his town, and is a bank official, in addition to participating in the activities of clubs and lodges.
He is a native of Easthampton, where he has lived all his life, and was born January 27, 1896, son of the late Frank and Mary (Wilcox) Lyman. His father was active in civic and politicial affairs, serving on the state highway commission for a quarter of a century, was also for ten years select- man having thus proved his abilities and capacities as public servant, was elected to the House of Re- presentatives for four terms. He died in 1939. His wife survived him by two years, dying in December, 194I.
Raymond A. Lyman graduated from Easthampton High School and devoted himself immediately to farming, and has continued in this pursuit ever since, operating a two-hundred-acre dairy farm near Easthampton. Heavy as are its demands upon him, it does not hinder Mr. Lyman from entering into the life of his community. He served from 1935 to 1939 as a selectman of the town of Easthampton, and was first elected county commissioner in 1940. To this latter post he was re-elected in 1944, and was made chairman of the board of commissioners in 1947. He is president and director of the Federal Land Bank of Northampton.
Mr. Lyman belongs to the Ancient Free and Ac- cepted Masons, Ionic Lodge, and to the Royal Arch Chapter of Easthampton and the Council at North- ampton. He is a member of the Easthampton Grange, Patrons of Husbandry, and of the Farmers' Club of Easthampton.
During World War I, Mr. Lyman served in France, as a member of the 7th Antiaircraft Battalion. He retains interest and membership in the American Legion and the more exclusive companion organi- zation, the "Forty and Eight." Mr. Lyman worships at the Congregational Church.
At Easthampton, July 25, 1923, Raymond A. Ly- man married Irene L. Fugere, daughter of Eldrick and Delia (Barron) Fugere of Easthampton. Mr. and Mrs. Lyman are the parents of a son, Raymond, Jr., who was born at Easthampton, May 23, 1924, graduated from Easthampton High School, and at- tended Dean Academy at Franklin. During World War II he served with the 36th Division, between 1942 and 1944. His infantry regiment was the 14Ist, in which he saw plenty of service in Africa and Italy. He is a disabled veteran, and has now returned to Easthampton.
RUSSELL S. COSTINE is the proprietor of a thriving electrical retail business in North Adams, which has been recognized by its citizens since the turn of the century as a purveyor of quality merch- andise in the electrical appliance and allied lines.
Costine's Electrical Store, as its corporate name reads, was founded by the present proprietor's father, Robert R. Costine, in 1900. Robert R. Costine was a native of Pittsfield. He married Anna B. Shand, and their son, Russell S., was born January 6, 1899. Anna B. (Shand) Costine was born in Scotland and came to Williamstown as a girl. She is still living. Robert R. Costine died in February, 1945.
Russell S. Costine was graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in the class of 1922. Immediately thereafter he went with the Wetmore-Savage Com- pany of Boston as a salesman, remaining with them in this capacity until 1928. Returning to North Adams in 1929, he became associated with his father in the management of Costine's Electrical Store. When in 1945 the elder Mr. Costine died, Russell S. Costine assumed full responsibility of its management. The present store, centrally located on Ashland Street near the post office, carries on a successful retail business, and stocks appliances and a full range of items on all goods of electrical nature. It holds the agency for Frigidaires, and Timken Oil Burners. It is playing its part in maintaining North Adams' modern high standard of living.
A member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Ma- sons, Mr. Costine belongs to the Greylock lodge of that order, in North Adams. He and his family attend the Congregational Church.
Mr. Costine served his country during World War I, as a member of the United States Army Air Corps.
At Springfield, Massachusetts, on September 22, 1940, Russell S. Costine married Czarina M. Hale, of Oregon.
IRVING ROBERT RISK-A varied and diver- sified career has been that of Irving Robert Risk, of Springfield, including manufacturing, insurance, and lastly the highly specialized field of flowers and florist supplies, in which he has been highly successful and has risen to an important executive position with the largest firm of its kind in the United States.
Born at Middletown, Connecticut, on May 27, 1900, Irving Robert is a son of Robert J. and the late Anna (Rogers) Risk, the former a native of Watertown in northern New York State, and the latter of Toronto, Province of Ontario, Canada. Robert J. Risk was formerly associated with the Noiseless Typewriter Company and is now retired and associated with
Clair. Of rececion
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Remington-Rand. He lives in Middletown, Connec- ticut, and is a member of the Episcopalian Church and in politics a Republican. Mrs. Anna (Rogers) Risk died at Middletown in 1943.
As a youngster Irving Robert Risk attended public school in his birth place and graduated from high school there with the class of 1918. He first took employment with the Baltzell Cordage Company in Hartford, Connecticut, which six months later went out of business. His work with the Baltzell Company was clerical, and so it was with his next employers, the Aetna Life Insurance Company, also of Hartford. After remaining with Aetna until 1922, Mr. Risk re- turned to Middletown and engaged in laboratory work for the Russell Manufacturing Company there. With this concern he remained until 1932, holding various positions and in the later period of this association being in charge of the processing department.
It was in 1932 that Mr. Risk first entered the busi- ness in which he was to find his career from that time to the present. He became associated with the Springfield Cut Flower Exchange, Inc., and for this organization opened a branch in Worcester, of which he remained in charge until 1941. In that year he was called back to Springfield to take charge of the de- partments of wholesale flowers, potted plants and florist supplies. He has continued as manager to the present time. The Springfield Cut Flower Exchange, Inc., is owned and controlled by A. M. Pierson, Inc., of Cromwell, Connecticut, who are the largest rose growers in the country, and maintain branches in New York City, New Haven, Connecticut, Boston, Massachusetts and Providence, Rhode Island, as well as at Springfield and Worcester.
Mr. Risk is a member of the Episcopalian Church, and is prominent in Masonic affairs, being a past master of Washington Lodge Number 81 of that Order, meeting in Cromwell, Connecticut. In politics he is a supporter of the Republican party. He belongs to the Springfield Country Club, and his favorite diversions are boating and golf.
HERBERT W. WOODGER, president of the Berkshire Sheet Metal Works, Inc. of Pittsfield, was born in Fairfield, England, on May 22, 1906, the son of William G. and Jane (Popple) Woodger. His father is a landscape architect, now retired and living in Lenox, Massachusetts. Mr. Woodger's mother is also living.
In 1913 as a boy of seven, Herbert W. Woodger came to the United States with his parents. They settled first at Pocantico, in the township of Tarry- town, New York, then lived for a time at Great Neck, Long Island, and finally went to Lenox. After at- tending the elementary schools of Great Neck, Long Island, Mr. Woodger entered the Berkshire Prepara- tory School at Sheffield, of which he is a graduate. He then studied at Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont, graduating in the class of 1930 with the degree of Bachelor of Science.
His first position was with the Department of Highway Engineering of the State of Illinois, for which he worked from 1930 to 1932. From 1932 to 1935 he was with Woodworth, Inc., of Indianapolis, Indiana, as an engineer. He came to Pittsfield in 1936 to accept a position with the General Electric Company's plant there as supervising engineer of
heating and ventilating equipment, and continued in this capacity for eleven years. On December 1, 1947, he became president of the Berkshire Sheet Metal Works, Inc., an industrial engineering concern of Pittsfield, upon retirement of its founder and presi- dent, Daniel L. Hood (q.v.). This concern had been founded by Mr. Hood in Pittsfield in 1909, and had built up an enviable reputation in the field of industrial engineering and industrial equipment. As an indus- trial engineer, Mr. Woodger was eminently qualified to take over the management, and under his guidance it is continuing to play a prominent role in the indus- trial field in Western Massachusetts.
Mr. Woodger is a member of the American Society of Heating and Ventilating Engineers, the American Society of Refrigeration Engineers, the National So- ciety of Professional Engineers and the Registered Professional Engineers of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He is also a member of the Pittsfield Rotary Club, the Pittsfield Club, and the Pittsfield Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Con- necticut Valley Consistory, No. 320, Ancient Accepted
Scottish Rite, and Melha Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine of Springfield.
He married on September 14, 1930, at Indianapolis, Indiana, Kathryn Buxton, of Indianapolis, daughter of George B. and Clara (Moody) Buxton. Mrs. Wood- ger is a graduate of Indiana University where she took the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1929. Mr. and Mrs. Woodger have three children: Brice Buxton, born August 4, 1935; David Kent, born January 28, 1937; and Leslie Ann, born May 2, 1941, all born at the Mercy Hospital in Pittsfield. Mr. and Mrs. Wood- ger and their family make their home in Stockbridge, and Mr. Woodger drives to Pittsfield daily to the plant of the Berkshire Sheet Metal Works, Inc.
CLAIR WILLIAM TREVALLION-An out- standing business executive of Springfield, Clair Wil- liam Trevallion has contributed toward the develop- ment of many phases of industry in this city and other centers throughout the State.
Mr. Trevallion was born February 7, 1907, at Aga- wam, son of Ernest A. and Evelina J. (Duclos) Tre- vallion. His grandfather was an English merchant and public office holder. His father, Ernest A. Tre- vallion, was born in England, and died at Agawam in August, 1916. He was a general merchant at Agawam, was a Republican, held local offices, and was a member of the St. William Roman Catholic Church. He married Evelina Duclos, daughter of Calixe Duclos, and Julia Duclos, natives of Canada. Calixe Duclos came to this country and became a contractor and builder and was a prominent and active Republican. Evelina (Duclos) Trevallion is now residing at Agawam.
Clair William Trevallion received his early educa- tion in the elementary schools of his home town, and was graduated from Springfield High School in 1928. Following this he took special courses at the High School of Commerce, and later took banking and civil law at the Technical High School.
For three years following the completion of his formal education, Mr. Trevallion was superintendent of operations at the New England Box Company at West Springfield. Then he became associated with the Springfield Safe Deposit and Trust Company,
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remaining with this organization four years. At the end of this period, he joined the Hercules Powder Company and the Paper Makers Chemical Company, which enterprises were both under the same owner- ship. For the following four years there he was in charge of industrial chemical sales. At this juncture Mr. Trevallion established his own business known as the American Chemical Company, of Westfield, which he still owns. In addition he established the National Laboratories Company in Westfield, of which he was president and general manager. He held the controlling interest in this concern until he sold it a short time ago. Mr. Trevallion started the C. W. Trevallion Enterprises of Springfield. This enterprise was established to relieve an acute meat shortage in the East. Live cattle were shipped by air for the first time in history from Chicago markets and western ranches. The short shipping time of five hours prevented the usual loss of weight which occurs when cattle are shipped by train. He is also inter- ested in the import-export business, and in the buying, selling and developing of real estate and is at present actively engaged in that business. In September, 1947, Mr. Trevallion was elected president of the Ar- thur E. Evans, Limited, manufacturers of Selenium Photo Electric Cells, located in Toronto, Canada.
In politics Mr. Trevallion is a Republican, and in religious affiliation adheres to the Roman Catholic faith, attending the St. Theresa Roman Catholic Church. In his spare time he enjoys reading, sculp- turing, and is an expert hunter and fisherman. He also enjoys horseback riding.
On September 2, 1929, Clair William Trevallion married Blanche Marie Poirier, daughter of Henry G. and Octave (Ethier) Poirier. Her father is a con- tractor of Agawam. Mrs. Trevallion, a native of Canada, was graduated from the West Springfield High School, operates a general store owned by the family in Agawam, is active in various women's or- ganizations, is a staunch Republican, and attends the St. Theresa Roman Catholic Church. Clair William and Blanche Marie (Poirier) Trevallion became the parents of one son, Ronald Clair Trevallion, who was born July 3, 1931, and is a student at the Agawam High School.
JAMES L. McCLEMENT-Ability and industry have been the two pillars of the career of James L. McClement of South Adams in the Berkshire Hills region of Western Massachusetts, in the course of which he has risen from an industrial worker and a public employee to a position of prominence and leadership in the banking affairs of that part of the State.
James L. is the son of the late William McClement, who died in 1925, and his wife Karen (Smith) McCle- ment, who survives her husband, in 1948, at eighty- two years of age. William McClement was a native of Scotland; his wife was born in Denmark. Each of them settled in Adams in their youth, and there mnet and married. The son, whom they called James L., was born at Adams on July 26, 1893. He attended and graduated from the public schools of his birth place, and this is the extent of his formal education. After leaving school he worked for a time in the local plants, and from 1923 to 1928 he served as clerk and treasurer of the Adams fire department.
It was in 1928 that Mr. McClement first became as- sociated with the South Adams Savings Bank in a clerical capacity. His natural aptitude for banking, his business sagacity and his able discharge of the duties of any position to which he was assigned, led to his rapid advancement, and in 1933 he was elected assistant treasurer of this financial institution. Two years later, in 1935, he was elected to fill the office of treasurer, and this he has held from that time to the present writing, with notable ability and success. Mr. McClement is also a member of the board of trustees of the South Adams Savings Bank.
During World War I Mr. McClement was a mem- ber of the United States Army, serving as a sergeant, first class. He is a member of the American Legion, and chairman of its finance committee. He is also a member of the Adams Athletic Facilities Committee, which he serves as treasurer; of the Adams Board of Trade; and with the Adams Sportsmen Club. His favorite recreation is fishing. In religion he is a member of the Congregational Church.
At Cheshire, on November 12, 1926, James L. Mc- Clement was married to Alice E. Bligh of that place, a daughter of John and Isabelle (Shepard) Bligh. The children of this marriage are as follows: I. Es- telle A., who was born at Adams, on February 28, 1928. She is a graduate of Adams High School, and is now the wife of Robert W. Whitman, a native of Adams. Robert W. Whitman served for three years in the United States Navy during World War II. This couple are now residents of Rockland. 2. Nancy A., born on June 21, 1938, at Adams.
ARMAND L. BONVOULOIR has been treasurer of the Hoosac Savings Bank of North Adams since 1940. Mr. Bonvouloir is active in the St. Jean Baptiste Society of the United States, having served as supreme treasurer from 1936 to 1940 and a di- rector from 1934 to the present time.
He was born in North Adams May 20, 1900, the son of Ephrem and Marie (Descoteaux) Bonvouloir, both now deceased.
He attended Notre Dame School in North Adams and Bliss Business College, of which he is a gradu- ate. From 1918 to 1932 he served in the office of the collector of taxes of North Adams and the city treasurer's office, holding the post of assistant treas- urer. In 1932 to 1934 he served as city auditor. He has associated with the Hoosac Savings Bank since 1934 when he became assistant treasurer. He was made a trustee in 1933, treasurer in 1940, and has con- tinued to serve in this post ever since.
He married on August 21, 1923, in the Notre Dame Church Antoinette Lemoine of North Adams, the daughter of Ludger and Amanda (Parenteau) Le- moine. Mr. and Mrs. Bonvouloir have five children: I. Claire, born October 19, 1924 at North Adams, a graduate of St. Ann's Academy of Marlboro; she married Harry I. Wells of North Adams on June 25, 1946, and they have one child, Peter Anthony, born September 2, 1947. 2. Marcelle, born December 23, 1925, a graduate of St. Ann's Academy of Marlboro and of the University of Massachusetts in the class of 1947. 3. Armand L., Jr., born July 26, 1927, a graduate of Assumption High School of Worcester and now a student of Assumption Col-
Joseph M. Lowne
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lege. 4. Marie Antoinette, born December 10, 1928, a graduate of St. Ann's Academy, now attending Anna Maria College at Marlboro. 5. Louise, born June 2, 1935.
ROBERT O. WELLS, owner of the Cascade Paper Company of North Adams, was born in that city October 3, 1906, the son of William A. and Jean (Longmuir) Wells, both now deceased. The late William A. Wells was employed by the James Hunter Machine Company. The Wells family were pioneers in Berkshire County.
Robert O. Wells graduated from Drury High School in the class of 1925 and from Wentworth Institute in Boston in the class of 1927. In 1931 Mr. Wells founded the Cascade Paper Company, manu- facturers of school supplies. This company has grown until it now supplies customers all over the United States. The concern employs a force of about thirty persons at the present time. Mr. Wells is a member of the North Adams Rotary Club and cur- rently its president. He is a member of the board of trustees of the North Adams Hospital. Fraternally he is affiliated with Greylock Lodge, Free and Accep- ted Masons and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is a member of the Congregational Church. For recreation, Mr. Wells enjoys golf and skiing.
Robert O. Wells married on August 6, 1938 at Readsboro, Vermont, Florence Barre of Readsboro, and they have two children: Jane E., born at North Adams on April 23, 1939, and William A., born March 29, 1944.
RUSSELL LLOYD OWEN-An outstanding citi- zen of Springfield, and a leading mechanical engineer and business executive, Russell Lloyd Owen has ren- dered stalwart service to his community, and his pro -. gressive business methods have set an exemplary ashion for this city.
Mr. Owen was born March 18, 1893, at Lubec, Maine, son of Elmer Elsworth and Annie (Clark) Owen. His grandfather, David M. Owen, father of Elmer Owen, was a Maine farmer. Elmer Elsworth Owen was born at Trescott, Maine, and died at Lubec, February 15, 1945, at the age of seventy-two years. Ie was a farmer and blacksmith by occupation, voted he Republican ticket, and attended the Methodist Church. He married Annie Clark, who was born n New Brunswick, Canada, and died in October, 945, at Lubec.
Russell Lloyd Owen received his early education in he public schools and high schools of Lubec, having graduated in 1911. In 1913 he was graduated from he Shaw Business College at Portland, Maine. Three ears later he completed the prescribed course at the Wentworth Institute in Boston, which specialized in mechanics. He also took a correspondence course in mechanical engineering with the International Cor- espondence School.
Over the course of the next few years Mr. Owen vas associated with various firms throughout the ountry. However, in February, 1945, he organized he Owen Jig Boring and Manufacturing Company. The enterprise produces gauges, dies, fixtures, and pherical tools which feature jig boring apparatus.
Mr. Owen is active in the life of his community,
and he holds memberships in the Springfield En- gineering Club, the Springfield Chamber of Commerce, and the Longmeadow Lodge of the Free and Accepted Masons. In politics he is a staunch Republican, and in religious belief he adheres to the Methodist faith, attending the First Methodist Church.
In June, 1913, Russell Lloyd Owen married (first) Alice Crosby, daughter of John and Fanny (Ockley) Crosby. Her father, a resident of Whiting, Maine, was a farmer by occupation. Mrs. Owen was born at Whiting, and died December 28, 1929, at Malden, Massachusetts. Russell Lloyd and Alice (Crosby) Owen became the parents of the following children: I. Davis, who is the wife of Howard Green, a welder of Farmington, Maine. 2. Colby A., who is associated with his father in business, and married to Ruth Bush, of Springfield. 3. Rachael, who was married to a member of the Blanchard family, of Portland, Maine; Mr. Blanchard is in the insurance business. 4. Russell Lloyd, Jr., who is associated with the Westinghouse Electric Company, of Springfield. 5. Vaughn, who became the wife of Robert Vanderscoff, of Thompsonville, Connecticut, who is associated in business with Mr. Owen.
On May 10, 1943, Russell Lloyd Owen married 1 (second) Margaret Gaudreau, daughter of Arsene and Anna (Belair) Gaudreau. Her father, a native of Canada, engaged in railroad operations, and died at Southbridge. Her mother is a resident of South- bridge.
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