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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News Record, 2015-05-27, Page 66 News Record • Wednesday, May 27, 2015 Colonel Hugh Barry Combe, V.D. David Yates Special to the News Record Colonel Hugh Barry Combe believed in the patrician ideal that duty to country and com- munity came before self-inter- est. A successful entrepre- neur, Colonel Combe sacrificed his own interests for the higher good of his coun- try. That noble belief would eventually come with a terri- ble price for his family. Born in Clinton on Septem- ber 23, 1864, Hugh Barry was the eldest of four children born to James and Agnes Combe. James Combe owned Clin- ton's first drugstore while his mother ran Clinton's first pri- vate school on Townsend Street according to The History of Clinton (1975). The Combe's were devout mem- bers of St. Paul's Anglican Church who, apparently, stressed the value of develop- ing mind and body. About 1880, young Combe proved himself a gifted athlete when the local fire chief needed speedy runners to fill out the Clinton Firemen's Racing team about to com- pete in an international tour- nament in London. Combe recalled in the Clinton News - Record (July 1925) that a call was put out for men in town to meet at the corner of Orange and Princess Streets to com- pete in a 300 yard dash to Mary Street. The fastest 15 runners would secure a place on the team. In the event, Combe won the competition beating out the local favour- ites earning him a spot on the firemen's racing team and the town's admiration. Combe learned to play the comet in the Hugh Scott Town Band. In 1881, he enlisted with the rank of Bugler in the Clinton Company of the 33rd Contributed photo The Cedars: Home of Col. H. B. Combe. Huron Regiment. The follow- ing year, Combe graduated from the Clinton Collegiate Institute and attended the Ontario College of Pharmacy in Toronto. He worked as a druggist's assistant in the fam- ily store and carried on the business after his father's death in 1896. Yet, his military interests over took him. Despite being kept "busy r----?/etu,ihrA vt tiitea %e: Clinton United Church 105 Ontario Street 519-482-9553 www.clintonunited.ca Ministry Team Word and Sacrament: Rev. Randy Covey MDIv Children and Youth: Kathy Douglas DM Director of Music: Louise Dockstader May 31 10:30 am Worship and Sunday School Open Minds - Open Hearts Come and be a part of the family Christian Reformed Church 243 Princess St. E., Clinton Pastor Ron Luchies 519-482-5264 Sunday May 31, 2015 10:00 am - Morning Service - Andy Luchies 7:00 pm - Evening Service "The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of his hands." Psalm 19 vs 1 All Visitors Welcome! First Baptist Church 85 Huron St., Clinton 482-3598 SUNDAY MAY 31, 2015 MORNING SERVICE 10:30 AM Lay Pastor - Wally DeWolfe Bible Study Wednesday 7:30 PM TO ADVERTISE IN THIS SECTION, PLEASE CALL Clinton News Record 519-482-3443 PRESS '0' BIBLE MISSIONARY CHURCH 35 Toronto Blvd., Vanastra (519) 482-8183 MAY 31, 2015 Sunday Morning Worship 11:00 AM Sunday Evening Worship 7:00 PM Pastor Josh McCarthy Everyone Welcome! HEARTLAND COMMUNITY CHURCH 52 Victoria St., Clinton - 519-606-1015 www. heartlandclinton. ca Pastor Charles Gingerich Sunday School 9:30 a.m. Sunday Morning Worship 10:30 a.m. Prayer & Share 7:00 p.m. Expect a welcome and a blessing! St. Paul's Anglican Church A Congregation of the Parish of The Holy Spirit 49 Ontario St., Cinton The Reverend Karine A. Snowdon BA, M.Div Organist & Choir Master: Dana Prouse SUNDAY MAY 31 Trinity Sunday Worship at 11:15 am Guest Presider: The Venerable Perry Chuipka of Wingham EVERYONE WELCOME with pipe clay, shoe polish and brass polish; he enjoyed military life with its rifle and bayonet drill. Combe quickly rose through the ranks of the local militia. In 1901, Combe was awarded the volunteer decoration for 20 years of mili- tary service. In 1903, Combe married Julia Isabel Dunsmore at Trin- ity Church in Mitchell in what was described as "a very pretty wedding:' Their marriage pro- duced one boy and two girls. The family resided in the home known as 'The Cedars' on the northeast corner of Rattenbury and Raglan Streets. About 1906, Combe devel- oped a financial interest in Samuel Owen's Knitting Fac- tory. By 1913, according to the History of Clinton (1975), Combe bought out his cousin Owen's share, re -located the business into a new building on Mary Street and built a thriving business which employed over 100 people. He remained President of the Clinton Knitting Company until he sold the enterprise in 1944. At war's outbreak in 1914, Combe held the rank of major in the 33rd Huron regiment but as the 50 -year-old Presi- dent of the knitting factory, he could have comfortably avoided military service and collected lucrative govern- ment clothing contracts to supply the troops at the front. Instead, in December 1915, he accepted command of the newly formed 161st Huron Battalion and was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. On his attestation form in 1915, he proudly wrote "from bugler to Lt. -Col." When the 161st bat- talion left for overseas service in October 1916, Colonel Combe was entrusted with the lives of hundreds of his neighbours' sons. Colonel Combe held command of the battalion until May 1917. He served in France until war's end with the British Third Army. Combe was elected Clinton Mayor in 1928. The headline in the News -Record pro- claimed that Mayor Combe promised, "I will do whatever I can to make Clinton a live, up-to-date, progressive town." Colonel Combe held the Mayor's chair unti11930. In 1936 Combe was named the Honourary Colonel of the Middlesex -Huron Regiment and served on the Board of the Clinton Collegiate Insti- tute. He remained active in church, Masonic and civic affairs. With a lifetime of achievements, Colonel Combe must have looked for- ward to a serene old age but another war forced him to accept the greatest sacrifice of his life. With a family tradition of military service, it was not sur- prising that Colonel Combe's children would want to enlist. One daughter, Agnes Combe, went overseas with the St. John's Ambulance. Colonel Combe's only son, James Owen, had been a captain in the pre-war militia but to 'has- ten his transfer' for overseas duty, he reverted to the rank of lieutenant in Windsor's Essex Scottish Regiment. Eileen Robbins, a 15 -year- old neighbour, clearly remembered the day that Owen Combe left home in 1943 to go to war. Colonel Combe's son, Lieutenant Owen Combe, was killed in the Normandy battles on August 27, 1944 at the age of 29. Robbins recalled that "he was just a real good looking fella" and was quite moved when she learned of his death. The shock of his son's death perhaps hastened Colonel Comb's own death as he died on October 27, 1945. At his funeral, he was lauded for his sense of duty to military, political and community affairs. His death marked the passing of one of the last of the great local patricians who placed duty before self.