Age 25. 96 Morris Street, Southbridge, MA. Born 5/31/1917, in Southbridge. Died of carbon monoxide poisoning (death certificate). Press operator at American Optical Co., of Southbridge. Also connected with his father (not present) in a family florist business. Was known by his middle name Houghton. First name Hiram. His wife Rita, age 24, also died. Couple was attached to a southern Worcester County area party of eight including Miss Louise Bouvier, age 20, Steven Casavant, age 21 (boyfriend of the latter and younger brother of Mrs. Bellows), also Mr. and Mrs. Raymond and Ruth Martell, ages 22 and 21 respectively, all of Southbridge, and Mr. and Mrs. Donat and Dorothy Ducharme, ages 29 and 25, of North Grosvenordale (Thompson), CT. Miss Bouvier, Mrs. Martel and both Ducharmes survived. Group had attended the season-finale afternoon B.C./Holy Cross college football game at Fenway Park, then came to the Grove after dinner elsewhere. Mentioned in a detailed account by Mr. Ducharme (Born 7/02/1913. Died 5/26/1986, age 72. Last residence North Grosvenordale, CT) provided to the 12/02/1942 Windham County Observer, Putnam, CT: "Ducharme recalled that his friend Bellows...remarked that a fight had broken out..." One of 60 "probable identifications" inventoried Sunday morning (8:00 a.m.) at Southern Mortuary in Boston (all male). Was a graduate of Mary E. Wells High School, Southbridge, 1935. "He...played end on the football eleven...He also played basketball in the Church and Community leagues" (The Evening Gazette, Worcester, MA, 11/30/1942). Attached to the military police unit of the Southbridge State Guard Reserves. Was the latest in a line of consecutive Bellows family men named "Hiram" dating back to the 18th century. The above eyewear firm would be acquired by Warner-Lambert Pharmaceutical in 1967, operated in Southbridge until 2005 (later based in Chicago, IL, as "AO Eyewear"). Parents Mr. and Mrs. Hiram B. and Annie (Letcher) Bellows, same address. Burial with his wife at Oak Ridge Cemetery, Southbridge.

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