|
Consuelo Palma Brazee (1880-1974) and three of her eight children and daughter-in-law Nancy: Nancy Agnes Erwin Brazee (1901-1963) Albert John Brazee, Jr. (1904-1984) Elizabeth "Bessie" Brazee (1913-2002) Florence Catherine Brazee (1920-1999)  Consuelo Palma Brazee Consuelo Palma Brazee was born on December 5, 1880, in Manila, Philippine Islands. She was the fifth of nine children born to Don Jose and Doña Louisa Lopez-Palma. Both her parents were born in Spain and met in Manila and were married on December 19, 1874. Don Jose served the Spanish Government during his career as Governor of Cebu, Governor of Iloilo, and Chief Magistrate and Alcalde de Manila until his untimely death from typhoid fever in 1888. He left his widow with nine young children to raise. Consuelo met a young Second Lt. Albert John Brazee who went to the Philippine Islands to fight in the Spanish American War with the Oregon Volunteers. Albert Brazee and Consuelo Palma were married in Manila on January 11, 1902, and had eight children: Consuelo, Albert, Jimmy, Helen, Mabel, Charlotte, Elizabeth and Florence. She and four of her children were in Santo Tomas/Los Baños Internment Camps: Consuelo Ford, Albert, Elizabeth and Florence along with a daughter-in-law Nancy Agnes Erwin Brazee and a son-in-law William Elmer Murray, Jr. She died on June 17, 1974, in Montebello, California.  Santo Tomas Internment Camp in front of the Brazee’s shanty about three weeks after liberation. Consuelo Palma Brazee (right) with her niece Carmen Palma Photo by Wilbur Bull  Elizabeth and Florence Catherine Brazee Elizabeth “Bessie” Brazee was born on November 2, 1913, in Manila, Philippine Islands. She was working as a secretary in the Port Area of Manila when the war began. The Port Area received relentless bombing and the building where Bessie was working was hit and caught on fire and Bessie was lucky to make it out of the building alive leaving everything she had with her behind. While in Santo Tomas Internment Camp she had the privilege of taking care of a darling, well mannered, little boy Earl “Butch” Dudley who along with his mother was among the first causalities of the bombings of Camp John Hay, Baguio. Bessie’s fiancée joined the military at the onset of the war and did not survive the war. She worked as a secretary for many years for Mobil Oil in Los Angeles, California. She died on June 24, 2002, in Montebello, California. Florence Catherine Brazee was born on November 8, 1920, in Manila, Philippine Islands. She worked as a secretary for the Army in Intramuros (the Walled City) in Manila before WWII. She was interned in Santo Tomas Internment Camp. After the war she worked for Elizalde and Company and then for Union Oil Company as secretary to one of the vice presidents in Los Angeles, California. She died on November 10, 1999, in Montebello, California.  Florence Catherine and Elizabeth Brazee Santo Tomas Internment Camp in front of the Brazee’s shanty about three weeks after liberation. Photo by Wilbur Bull   Albert John Brazee, Jr. --and-- Nancy Agnes Erwin Brazee Albert John Brazee, Jr., was born on July 23, 1904, in Manila, Philippine Islands. He worked for Luzon Stevedoring Company as a supervisor. He married Nancy Agnes Erwin on July 1, 1929, in Cavite, Philippine Islands. He was transferred from Santo Tomas to Los Baños Internment Camp with the first group of 800 able bodied men on May 14, 1943. Los Baños was liberated on February 23, 1945. He died on December 8, 1984, in San Francisco, California. Nancy Agnes Erwin was born on November 20, 1901, in Rochester, Minnesota. She had a career in nursing until she married Albert Brazee. She was interned in Santo Tomas until she was transferred to Los Baños to join her husband. She died in November 1963 in Rochester, Minnesota.  or would like to be added to my POW/Internee e-mail distribution list, please let the me, Tom Moore, know. Thanks! |