Four generations gather to honour Major Manley Yearwood

The family of Maj. Manley Yearwood stands in front of the commemorative banner at the corner of Wilmot and Weber streets in New Hamburg. Children in the front row: Adalynn Rohm, Bentley Rohm, Madison Helm, Paige Helm and Jackson Helm. Middle: Katie Rohm, Victoria Frey, Carra Helm, Margaret Rohm, Jaymee Witzel, Judy Yearwood, Alyssa Helm and Dave Helm. Back: Andrew Rohm, Rob Milligan, Stephanie Milligan and Tara Witzel. Diane Danen photo

By Diane Danen

Four generations of a local family gathered recently to celebrate and honour their ancestor, Maj. Manley Yearwood, under his memorial veterans’ banner in downtown New Hamburg.                         

The New Hamburg Royal Canadian Legion Branch 532 once again invited families to sponsor memorial banners in honour of local veterans this year. The initiative aims to bring the community together to remember and pay tribute to those who served for Canada, the U.K. and their allies. Each banner features a veteran’s name and photo and is proudly displayed on light standards throughout the downtown areas of Wilmot.

On Saturday, Nov. 1, four generations of the Yearwood family gathered at the corner of Wilmot and Weber Streets in New Hamburg, where Maj. Manley Yearwood’s banner hangs, to honour their father, grandfather, great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather.

Before the Second World War, Yearwood was married with two children. Sadly, his wife passed away. In 1939, Yearwood enlisted at the age of 27 in Madoc, Ont., serving in the war from 1939-1945.

Yearwood served with the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment as a demolition expert. During the war, while marching with his platoon, he caught the eye of a young woman named Maggie Mair, who was doing her part for the war effort working in ammunitions. Mair told her friends that he was the man she was going to marry. Yearwood and Mair were married six weeks later.

The couple married in Scotland where they welcomed their first daughter, Margaret. After the war ended in 1945, Mair came to Canada as a war bride. The family eventually settled in Gananoque, later moving to Kingston, Fenelon Falls, Waterloo and later Doon, and had seven more children together.

On Saturday, family members travelled from Listowel, Woodstock, Kitchener, Shakespeare and New Hamburg to pose for a family photo in front of Maj. Yearwood’s memorial banner, a touching tribute to a proud Canadian veteran and the legacy he left behind.