MR. CUMMINGS: Goodbye to a hero

Thomas Cummings of Mortonville, a local history buff and a member of the Greatest Generation, died at age 91 on Jan. 23.

Thomas Cummings

I met Mr. Cummings in early 2012, after I wrote about how Lone Eagle Road, in West Bradford, is so named because back in 1928 the famous aviator Charles Lindbergh made an emergency landing nearby ("Lone Eagle" was the name of his plane).
Shortly after the item ran, Mr. Cummings contacted me. He said he remembered the incident well, though he was only four years old at the time, and had some photographs of the plane that he wanted to show me.
I went over to his immaculate hilltop house one sunny afternoon, and we took a short drive to where the plane had landed. While we were talking, I learned that he had served in the Marine Corps during World War II, fought at Iwo Jima in the Pacific ("I didn't think I'd make it out alive," he recalled), and earned two Purple Hearts. He showed me the glass case where he kept them, along with his military ID card and other memorabilia.
I also learned he was a widower and missed his wife dearly. He and I took something of a shine to each other, and I made a few more visits over the years to talk about local history (I remember talking about the destructive Ercildoun storm, and local Native American history) and to look at his files of old photos and newspaper clippings.
One afternoon, out of the blue, he presented me with two equestrian-themed bracelets and said he wanted me to have them. They had belonged to his wife, he explained, and she would have enjoyed the life I lead.
I was pretty much speechless.
At his Funeral Mass at Our Lady of the Rosary church in Coatesville on Jan. 29, the Rev. Thomas Brennan spoke about how Mr. Cummings exemplified the Marine Corps motto, "Semper Fi," throughout his life, showing his faithfulness to God, his country and his family and friends.
It was an honor and a privilege to know Mr. Cummings, a war hero and an old-school gentleman. May he rest in peace.