Dennis C. Radford Sr., 83, of Englewood, Fla., passed away Thursday,
March 5, 2015, at Tidewell Hospice.
He was born in Beeston, England, the son of Harold and Dorothy (nee
Coulson) Radford, and came to this country with his parents and a
brother when he was 15 years old.
At the age of 18, Dennis joined the U.S. Army, where he enrolled in the
Airborne and became a paratrooper. He fought in Korea. During the four
years Dennis was in the Army, he became a United States citizen. Six
months after his honorable discharge from the U.S. Army, he enrolled in
the U.S. Air Force, where he served for six years. While stationed at
Westover Air Force Base in Chicopee, Mass., Dennis met Addie, and they
were married. He and Addie originally lived in East Longmeadow, Mass.
Survivors include his wife of 57 years, Adeline “Addie” (nee DuBois)
Radford; son, Dennis C. (Doreen Boyer) Radford II; daughters, Sharon
Laro, Lois (Ronald) Pare and Carlene Alexander; seven grandchildren; 10
great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren.
Burial will be at the Veterans Cemetery in Agawam, Mass. |
[courtesy of "Cathy L"]
Grave
marker for Dennis C. Radford in Section 0A, Row P, Site 299,
Massachusetts Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Agawam (Hampden county),
Massachusetts.
Dennis, grew up at 116 Boundary Road, Beeston,
Nottinghamshire, England less than 500 feet from the southeast corner of
Wollaton Park where the 508th encamped during 1944. As a
12-year-old boy, that must have had a tremendous influence on him.
He may have even been one of the children who ran errands for a few
shillings that were passed through the fence to him.
On 25 August 1947, Dennis, along with his mother and
brother, arrived in New York harbor from Southampton, England, with his
mother and brother aboard the RMS Queen Mary. Their destination
was Newburgh, NY where they would join Dennis' father, Harold Radford.. |
