Thanks to the investigative skills of a Vulcan residents Marjorie Weber and Jerry Wylie of the Vulcan and District Historical Society, we now know the identity of these two attractive young ladies from Vulcan, who were some of Harry's friends. Jerry has provided additional information about Mary and Harry:             

The Vulcan girls in the photo are, left (with dark dress) is Correne Neville and right is Verna Smith.

Marjorie wrote in a letter of December, 2007:

I have been concerned from the beginning about the identification of the 'Vulcan Girls". We all agreed that the one on the left was Correne Neville but I was never satisfied with the identification of the second girl as Eva Peck. I have now managed to trace Correne Neville, now Correne O'Dwyer of Dawson Creek, B.C. She was very interested in the web site and her picture being there.

I asked her to identify the other girl, and she has emailed me through her daughter-in-law as follows:

Hi Marg, 

In regards to picture - definitely Correne Neville - friend is definitely Verna Smith. Hope this helps you out. MERRY CHRISTMAS.

CORRENE O'DWYER

When I contacted her by phone, Correne did not remember the picture being taken, nor how it came into the possession of Harry. But she was very definite about the other girl being Verna Smith, as they were very close friends. Verna Smith is now deceased, but her brother Merle was doing some renovations for me and when I showed him the picture and I told him I was trying to identify the girls, he said without hesitation "That's my sister, Verna".

Some of this information I (Jerry Wylie) received from Mary's Sister-In-Law, Mae Spaeth - the widow of the late Howard Spaeth. She lives here in Vulcan at the Peter Dawson Lodge (a seniors home). I have visited her several times since this first started and have been able to find out a lot of information. She is a very nice person and I have enjoyed talking to her.     

The Mary you are searching for is Mary Lucille Spaeth, who was born January 13th, 1926. She was the adopted daughter of August (Gus) Gottfried Spaeth and Harriet (Hattie) Bianka Lilly. Mary had one brother Howard Leroy Spaeth, Born October 14th, 1919. In 1953 Mary married Merrill  Nicholson of Hunter River, P. E. I. They had three sons David, John and Roderick. Mary's family all passed away within a span of just over two years. Mary in Ottawa - June 21st, 1963 at 37 years of age, her mother Harriet (Hattie) - December 4th, 1964, her brother Howard - September 16th, 1965 at 45 years of age and her father August (Gus) - September 29th, 1965.

Everyone that knew Mary speaks very highly of her and she was well liked by all the people of the community. Mary was a beautiful singer and had a lovely voice, often she would be ask to sing at various functions in the community, some of which would be without musical accompaniment. Mary was an accomplished pianist and loved to play the piano. After receiving her education in Vulcan, she moved to Calgary to study music, where she received her L.R.S.M. and A.R.C.T. Degrees.

Harry and Mary wanted to become engaged before he left after he had signed up but both sets of parents agreed that they were too young and they talked them into waiting until he returned from the war to become engaged -
but this never happened. Mary was devastated when she received word that Harry was missing in action and was heart broken when the news arrived that he was killed in action. - compiled by Jerry Wylie