By Deborah Larsen
Sheldon Herbert Bray
Sheldon Herbert Bray was born in Detroit, Michigan, on May 27, 1921, the son of Herbert and Violet Blouin Bray. He attended high school at the Missouri Military Academy in Mexico, Missouri, and graduated in the class of 1939. The Bray family moved to Avon Township in 1939 and lived in the house on the corner of Brewster Road and Walton Boulevard that later became known as the Danish Old People’s Home.
Sheldon entered the U.S. Army Air Corps in early 1942 and married the former Bethel Metro of Rochester at Fort Benning, Georgia, in June 1942. His wife accompanied him to his next duty station at Kelly Field in San Antonio, Texas, but returned to Rochester to live with her parents when Sheldon was sent overseas.
On March 16, 1944, Sheldon’s airplane was shot down in a raid over Germany. He was captured and held prisoner by neutral powers in Bern, Switzerland. Bethel Bray was notified in April 1944 that her husband would be held in Switzerland for the duration of the war. Sheldon was later awarded an Air Medal for his combat achievements.
Following the war, Sheldon remained in the military, serving with the Air Force at the rank of lieutenant.
Sheldon Herbert Bray died while still on active duty with the U.S. Air Force in Tacoma, Washington, on May 23, 1950, at the age of 28. He was laid to rest at White Chapel Cemetery in Troy, Michigan.