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Carole Lombard

(Actress)

6 October 1908 – 16 January 1942 (Aged 33)

Lombard became one of the biggest and highest-paid stars of 1930’s Hollywood.

A number of comedic roles, such as Hands Across the Table and My Man Godfrey, saw her become one of the highest-paid stars of the time.

In 1939, Lombard married Hollywood legend Clark Gable but saw her life cut down in her prime.

Lombard died in a plane crash in Nevada, while on her way home from a War Bond rally. The plane crashed on the mountainside a few miles outside of Las Vegas.

All 22 people on board, also including Lombard’s mother, and 15 U.S. Army soldiers, were killed instantly.

Lombard had been scheduled to star in They All Kissed the Bride, and was replaced by Joan Crawford.

Crawford donated her salary for the film to the Red Cross, who had helped in the recovery of bodies from the air crash.

Clark Gable, who was devastated by Lombard’s death, joined the United States Army Air Forces, in accordance with Lombard’s wishes.

He headed a six-man motion picture unit in England to film aerial gunners in combat, flying five missions himself.

On 15 January 1944, the United States Maritime Commission launched the SS Carole Lombard on the second anniversary of Lombard’s record-breaking war bond drive, raising over $2 million in a single evening.

Grant Wood

(Painter)

Self portrait / Wikimedia CommonsCC-BY-SA-3.0 / GFDL

13 February 1891 – 12 February 1942 (Aged 50)

Wood was an American painter.

He is best known for his works portraying life in the American Midwest, particularly the iconic American Gothic.

Wood died from pancreatic cancer one day shy of his 51st birthday.

Edith Stein

(Philosopher/Nun)

Edith-Stein
  Wikimedia CommonsCC-BY-SA-3.0 / GFDL

12 October 1891 – 9 August 1942 (Aged 50)

Stein was a Jewish philosopher, born in the German city of Breslau, which is now Wroclaw in present-day Poland.

Spurred on by the events of World War I, Stein volunteered as a nurse with the Red Cross.

She went on to University, where she was inspired by a book about St Teresa of Avíla and converted to Christianity.

Stein became a nun and, as the Nazi party grew in support, ended up moving to a monastery in Echt, Netherlands, along with her sister.

However, in August 1942, Stein and her sister were arrested and, eventually, sent to Auschwitz concentration camp, where they were killed in the gas chamber.

Stein was made a saint of the Catholic Church in 1998, known as Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.