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Descendants of John Manning Cain

Generation No. 6

56. THELMA FAYE⁶ CAIN (JOHN RUFUS⁵, LUKE ERVIN⁴, JOHN FRANCIS MARION³, JAMES J.², JOHN MANNING¹) was born February 22, 1932 in Lawrenceville, Gwinnett Co. Ga.. She married WILLIAM LOUIS [KNIGHT] PRINCE November 08, 1953 in Sylvan Hills Baptist Ch, Atlanta, Fulton Co. Ga..

Notes for THELMA FAYE CAIN:
The Friendship Light

There comes into my heart a worthy desire,
In the evening as I snugly sit in front of the open fire,
Gazing at the burning coals as their brilliant , glowing light falls,
And flickers brightly against the faint luster of the walls.

If I could but send a radiant light into someone’s heart,
Just to sprinkle a little happiness into someone’s day,
Just to sprinkle a little happiness into someone’s day,
Just to see someone smile gratefully would be my repay.

If I could do what does the firelight,
Cast a beam in every corner; provide a beautiful sight.
The firelight is visible , but the light I would give
Would not be seen except by the way I live.

If I could offer my friendship to one in sorrow and in joy,
To one to whom friendship would mean much, not merely a toy,
But one neglects to add more coals to keep the light burning inside;
For if he worries and has not faith in friends, it will not abide.

But someday when his dreary troubles are past,
He will realize he has friends who will always last.
Always there, providing the way out with a faithful smile.
Yes, the invisible Friendship Light.

Written in 1947 by Thelma Faye Prince (copywrited 1997)

This poem was inspired by Dorothy Bannister Zegel, a life long friend of mine.
When we were walking home from school together one day, I was telling her how much her friendship meant to me and how I wished that we would always be friends. She said she felt the same way. I arrived home that day and started up the stoked fire in the fireplace, as was my regular routine. As I watched the coals burning in the fireplace and lighting up and warming the room, I thought of this analogy to friendship and how friends light up your world, and the poem just came to me.

More About THELMA FAYE CAIN:
Buried: March 26, 1995, Sayre Woods Bible Church
religion: Member, Sayre Woods Bible Baptist Church
occupation: 1953-1967, R.N. Perth Amboy General Hospital, OB-GYN
occupation: 1967-1988, Registered nurse, Muhlenburg Hospital
hobbies: Writing, Genealogy, Needlework, Gardening
talents: Embroidery, Needlepoint
special events: 1949-1953, North Ga. College, C.W.L. Nursing School
: 1937-1949, Atlanta schools and Hapeville High School
: November 08, 1953, My marriage to Bill in Atlanta
residences: 1932-1953, Lawrenceville, moved to Atlanta in 1937
residences: 1953-1996, Laurence Harbor; moved to Parlin in 1965
Medical Information: Hypertension, Interstitial Cystitis since 1982, osteoporosis and arthritis spine, chronic pain in bladder and back, GERD.

Notes for WILLIAM LOUIS [KNIGHT] PRINCE:
When Bill was christened on 19 August 1919 in St. Catherine's R.C. Church his sponsors were his uncle, John Reilly and Mary Peters. The priest was J.C. McClary.William is known to everyone as "Bill". He was born in Hillside, NJ at #30 Avy St on 13 July 1919. His name at birth was William Louis Knight (birth certicate #716, Trenton, NJ). Natural parents were Sarah Agnes Reilly and Joseph Thomas Knight. He was raised by his father's sister, Helen Marie Knight and her husband, William Louis Prince (1882-1943), and Bill took their surname Prince when he was about five years old. The Princes lived at #30 Avy St and were very close to the Knights. Bill was sickly as a child, and was told that the Princes were better off financially and wanted to take care of him. Helen had a daughter, Helen, much older than Bill, who married Norman Govette but she and William Prince had no children of their own.Bill attended Hurden- Looker School and Hillside Avenue elementary schools in Hillside. When they moved to Union Beach, he attended Keyport High School, going through the 10th grade.
For a short period he worked for the Civil Conservation Corp, the CCC's working on farms and digging ditches. The work was varied, doing whatever was needed, and this program was set up by the Federal Government.

He began work at Welin-Davit, Perth Amboy, NJ, in 1942 as an assembler and riveter making davits for lifeboats. He joined the army in spring of 1943, went overseas and came back to the U.S. in the fall of 1944, spent a year in the hospital recovering from wounds received in action around Anzio. After discharge from the army in the fall of 1945, he resumed work at Welin-Davit and stayed there until 1961 when he started work for Old Bridge Township Roads and Sanitation Department as a laborer and truck driver. He retired in 1984.

WORLD WAR II MEMOIRS AS TOLD TO WIFE, THELMA FAYE PRINCE, JUNE 1994
"I was inducted into the army on March 25, 1943 at Newark, NJ. I had my basic training at Camp Croft, Spartenburg, S.C. I had advanced training at Camp Swift in Austin, Tx.
Date of departure to Oran, Algeria, North Africa, was September 13 by a liberty ship named "John Brown." We arrived there October 6, 1943, stayed there briefly then went to Bizerte, Tunisia on the "Forty and Eight" train. From Bizerte we went by transport ship to Naples where we bivouacked at a racetrack which was the replacement depot of manpower.
I was a rifleman #745 in Company L, 179th Infantry, 45th Division of the Fifth Army. My outfit landed on Anzio Beachead between January 23rd and February 1, 1944. I was not in the first landing on January 21-22nd. We went from Naples to Anzio by ship and marched off the ship up through the town and joined the lines already formed, digging right into foxholes, because shelling and bombing were going on constantly.
I lived in a foxhole and slept in it most of the time. I washed with water put into my helmet, ate c-rations (canned beef) and k-rations. There was an abandoned house there, but it was too dangerous for us to go into it because the enemy bombed buildings. It was extremely rainy winter and mud was up to your knees everywhere, making it difficult to manuever around.
On February 18, 1944, I was walking down the road when a shell exploded near me. I proceeded to the evacuation hospital by myself and was treated for a perforated eardrum. I ate supper at the evacuation hospital and right afterwards the Germans shelled the kitchen. It was repaired later. This hospital was near the harbor and the airstrip. I was off duty a couple of days and then sent back to the front lines.
I was made a Private First Class and ordered to set up a scouting outpost, along with one other man, in front of my outfit's lines. I was made the first scout whose duty it was to make sure where the Germans were and to let those behind us know. We tied tin cans up around the outpost which would make noise if anyone approached.
On May 30, 1944, three of our companies were advancing and trying to keep in contact with each other. As first scout, I could see where the Germans were. Unfortunately, one of them spotted me, threw a grenade and I got hit in the left leg(femur) and right arm(humerus), leaving shrapnel in the wounds.
The medics took me back to the Battalion Aid Station for first aid. I was then sent to the evauation Hospital in Naples for two days, then transferred to the new hospital in Naples where the doctors operated, put a pin in my leg and put my arm and leg in traction.
I left for the US by hospital ship from Naples on September 11, 1944, arriving September 29, 1944. I went to Stark General Hospital in South Carolina for a little while, then to Newton D. Baker Veterans Hospital, Martinsburg, West Virginia. Discharge was given at 1318 SCU Hospital Center, Camp Pickett, Virginia, September 17, 1945"

In July 1975, Bill and Faye visited the American Cemetery at Nettuno, Italy. Many of those buried there fought at Anzio and envrons. Carolyn and I visited it in 1990.
Bill holds the following medals and awards for his military service:
       Purple Heart with bronze oak leaf cluster
       Honorable Service Lapel Button-World War II
       World War II Victory Medal
       Bronze Star Medal for bravery in action
       Combat Infantryman's Badge [expert rifleman]
       European African Medal with two bronze stars
       Good Conduct Medal
On March 22, 1995 at the National Guard Armory, Colonel Moorman of the U.S. Army awarded to Bill the Distinguished Service Medal of the State of New Jersey. This medal was awarded to him for distinguished meritorous service in ground combat, wounds received as a result of direct combat actions against an armed enemy while serving in the United States Army in the European African Middle Eastern Theater during World War II.
The above awarding of the medal was well attended with his children, grandchildren, brother Joe, sisters-in-law, Jean, Helen, nieces Pat and her husband Robert Wyatt, Lynne and her husband Stan Stires, Kathy and her husband Ed Cooper, Colleen and her three young children, Maryellen, Elizabeth, and Joseph. We all came back home to Faye and Bill's for a nice lunch and were together for the most part of the day. This was especially meaningful that we all got to see and spend time with Joe that day because he died suddenly two days later.


More About WILLIAM LOUIS [KNIGHT] PRINCE:
Baptism/Christen: August 17, 1919, St. Catherine's R.C. Church, Hillside, Union Co.
Buried: Sponsors John Reilly, Uncle, & Mary Peters
religion: Catholic
occupation: 1945-1961, Riveter, Welin Davit Lifeboat makers, Perth Am
occupation: 1961-1984, Old Bridge Twp Road & Sanitation Depts
hobbies: Fishing,Baseball, Football Games
talents: Getting along with people
special events: 1924-1936, Went through 10th grade, Keyport High
: Hillside Elementary Schools
: 1943-1945, World War II, Anzio, wounded in action
residences: 1920-1940, Hillside, Union Beach, NJ
residences: 1940-1996, Keyport, Laurence Harbor, Old Bridge Twsp,NJ
military: 1943-1945, US Army ,PFC. Co L,179th Regt,45th division (Source: Thelma F. Prince and William L. Prince)
Medical Information: Hypertension, diabetes, coronary artery disease, triple bypass 1/92, Parkinson's, arthritis hip and knees, Cancer of Prostate, carpal tunnel disease. hands, Dupetren's contracture both hands

Marriage Notes for THELMA CAIN and WILLIAM PRINCE:
William Louis Prince and Thelma Faye Cain were married on November 8, 1953 in Sylvan Hills Baptist Church, Melrose Avenue, Atlanta, Georgia, ceremony performed by Rev. Alvin Brackett, Jr. The best man was Clinton Hamilton, Faye's cousin, and the maid of honor was Betty Jean Waters, Faye's friend and roommate at Crawford W. Long Nursing School. Ushers were Arthur Zegel,a close friend, and Edward Hamilton, cousin of Faye. About thirty-five close friends and relatives attended the wedding held at three o'clock Sunday afternoon.
Bill and Faye left the next morning for New Jersey where they made their first home in Laurence Harbor, NJ at 247 Garfield Ave. In 1965 they moved to 44 Clemson Road, Parlin, NJ where they still live today.

       Children of THELMA CAIN and WILLIAM PRINCE are:

WILLIAM JEFFREY⁷ PRINCE, b. September 23, 1955, Perth Amboy, Middlesex Co. NJ; m. CONSTANCE SUE GOOD, August 29, 1981, Menlo Park, Middlesex Co. NJ.

ii.

CAROLYN ELIZABETH PRINCE, b. February 26, 1964, Perth Amboy, Middlesex Co. NJ; m. JOHN CHARLES LAMBERT, October 19, 1997, Pine Beach, Ocean Co. NJ.

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