It had been a fun-filled summer like any other for the Coombe family of Ohio — luxurious parties, extravagant teas, lazy afternoons socializing aboard the spacious yacht of one friend or another. Harry Elijah James Coombe was president and general manager of the William Powell Company, a world leader in the manufacture of valves, gear, lubricators, plugs and all manner of materials for the plumbing trade. His father-in-law, Vachel Anderson, had been one of the early settlers of Watch Hill.
Now he and his wife, Mary Chambliss (Anderson), made Hillside Cottage in Watch Hill their relaxing summer escape from the bustling city. The Coombes resided most of the year on Grandin Road in Cincinnati where they employed a staff consisting of servants, butlers, laundresses, cooks and nurses to attend to their needs. The couple had three children, sons Vachel and Harry, and daughter Mary Ann, who all involved themselves wholeheartedly in the summer social life available to the Atlantic shore’s young elite.
Then, a telegram arrived on Aug. 2, 1945, that swiped the perfect sun down from the sky and stopped the glorious world from turning. Harry, a naval pilot, was missing somewhere in the Pacific.
Twenty-two years old, 175 pounds and nearly 5 feet and nine inches tall, the brown-eyed blonde boy had graduated from the Hotchkiss School and went on to attend Yale University, where he played on the football and baseball teams, took part in wrestling and drama, and worked on the staff of the.
