Living in Waynesboro by one account, and at 558 Maple Street in Charlottesville by another, Ely was a time-keeper for the Waynesboro fiber plant operated by E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, the chemical giant best known as DuPont. Ely was one of three men returning, according to a contemporary account in the Daily Progress, from a business trip to Philadelphia at the time of the crash. (The other two DuPont employees were Sherman Bristow and Alec N. Thomson, both of Stuarts Draft.) Just a year before the crash, DuPont began producing Orlon at the plant, which had previously focused on acetate. DuPont spun off the Waynesboro facility as a subsidiary in 2003 and then sold the company, renamed Invista, in 2004.
Wesley R. Ely
Wesley R. Ely
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My cousin, Anne Solodiuk, was married to Sherman Bristow at the time of the crash. They had just married the prior January, so they were newlyweds. Anne heard about the crash of a Piedmont plane on the news. Sherman actually had reservations on another airline but, at the last minute, changed to Piedmont because, as he said when he did it, it was a safer airline. Anne tried calling Piedmont to get information and was told they had nothing to say at the time. It wasn’t until after the crash site was found that they finally phoned her and told her there was one survivor and Sherman wasn’t him. According to Anne, there were also two other DuPont Waynesboro employees who were traveling with Sherman who kept their reservations on the other airline and, therefore, survived. They attended Sherman’s funeral. I am the genealogist in Anne’s family and that is why I know so much about it. I believe stories like these should be handed down, generation through generation.
I would like to thank Mr. Bradley and all who organized the special commemoration ceremony near Crozet. My father, Wesley Richard Ely, was one who lost his life in the crash. I was three years old at the time, and although I have few memories of my father, the ones I do have are very vivid. He was a kind, loving man who was dedicated to his family and his work at DuPont. My mother, MaryE Marks Ely, never stopped loving him, and she never remarried. She died in 2000 at the age of 84. In the summer of 2008, my husband, Bob, and I visited the beautiful memorial below Bucks Elbow Mountain for the first time. It was a place that brought peace and healing to my heart. We are now serving as ELCA Mission Personnel in Arusha, Tanzania; therefore, we were unable to attend the event on Oct. 31.