Obituary of Theodore Guy Converse II

Theodore Guy Converse, Jr. died after a brief illness on October 17th in Waterville, Maine. He resided in Unity, Maine with his son Todd and his wife, Hui. Ted was born in New York City on January 23, 1923 to Theodore Guy Converse, Sr. and Louise Moore. The family resided in Greenwich, CT, where Ted attended Greenwich High School. On October 2, 1942, he enlisted in the US Air Corps and was assigned to the 571st Squadron of the 390th Bombardment Group. He was promoted to Sargent and served as the Tail Gunner on a B-17 “Flying Fortress,” stationed in East Anglia, England. On October 10, 1943 during a raid on Munster, Germany, his plane “Pinky” was shot down. A couple of the crew died in the attack, the rest parachuted out and were captured by the German police. Ted was not conscious when he ejected and was separated from the rest of the crew, who reported him likely dead. Even Ted thought he was dead when he came to, but realized he had survived when he heard the all too familiar sound of machine gun fire. With a broken compass, he found his way to the Dutch border and hid in the bushes waiting to find a sympathizer. It took a farm wife, her daughter, a man named Joop on a bike, a Dutch passport approved by Joseph Paul Goebbels, a sales rep and his beautiful wife, a professor, a train from Tilburg to Brussels, and a lady of the evening to get Ted into the Dutch underground. After hours of interrogation, he was finally taken to the home of Madame Frankum, who had three daughters, and where he remained until Brussels was liberated in September 1944. After returning to England, he was released, but spent months in Brooks General Hospital in San Antonio, Texas, where he nearly died due to a severe infection. Eventually he recovered and returned to Greenwich. He joined Chubb & Co. and worked for a few other financial services companies. He eventually settled in West Barnstable, Massachusetts where he was a financial advisor for E. F. Financial. He enjoyed his vegetable garden. He is survived by his partner Lil Lyle and his sons: Guy of Topsham, Maine, and Todd and his wife Hui of Unity, Maine, his daughters: Anne Converse Willkomm of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and Sharon O’Neil of Brewer, Maine. He is also survived by 12 grandchildren: Aimee Converse Keithan, Brent Converse, Rebekah Bosco, Matthew Converse, Samuel Converse, Emily Fownes Willkomm, William Hilton Willkomm, Eleanor Steward Willkomm, Christopher Converse, Erin Nason, Shelly O’Neil, and Shannon Adams.