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Please be patient, this page is graphic intensive.
Foleys have
served with distinction throughout the history of this country, and our family can also be counted among those who served.
Jim's grandfather, Wallace Lenox Foley (shown in photo), served with distinction in the
Gloucester (Massachusetts) Police Dept. for many years. Here's his
obituary - it's very interesting: Police
Sgt. Wallace L. Foley, member of the Gloucester Police Dept. for the
past 30 years, up to his retirement last week, passed away yesterday
afternoon (July 28, 1946) at the age of 54 years. He had been in ill health for some
time, but had been at the hospital for just two weeks. He was He was
among the best police officers the local department ever had. His
funeral will be held this Wednesday During their early days on the force, Foley also teamed up with O'Malley on harbor patrol. Their police boat being a dory owned by a police officer. They were on the watch for harbor pirates and did much to lessen waterfront thievery. The late Sgt. was utilized by several city marshals as a police investigator and did praiseworthy detective work in many instances. He had experience on all watches, serving as roundsman on the evening watch, in charge of the police force on the dawn patrol, and as court officer during the day. Recently he requested retirement due to ill health. He leaves his mother (named above), his wife Rose (Gordon) Foley, two sons, George G. and Clayton W. Foley, and three grandsons. Previous to this time, Jim's great-great grandfather, Lawrence James Foley of Pembroke, Maine, served with distinction in the Union Army during the Civil War. A member of the 6th Maine Infantry Regiment, Company F, he survived the war. Jim's branch of his immediate Foley family includes his father Clayton Warren Foley, and his mother Barbara Elizabeth Greel. They married in Gloucester, Massachusetts before 1942.
After Jim's parents divorced, Jim's father married again, to Etta Saunders, and they had one daughter, Ilma. After a few years in the New England states, Jim's father, Etta, and Ilma moved to Florida, where his father lived the rest of his life. Jim lived with him for short periods several times, and so did Don. Jim's mother
was Portuguese, and she was quite a character. This fact, along
with the fact that Jim and his brother Don were the twin Huck Finns of
Gloucester, created some priceless family stories. One example would be
the first winter Jimmie and Donnie were old enough to go outside with Ma
and build a snowman in the front yard. He was magnificent, just as a
snowman should be, including top hat! They then began
rolling snow for As Ma looked out the window to check on them, she saw Jimmie drawing back with the broom handle, and gasping, she began screaming and beating on the picture window, "Jimmie! Stop that right now! You'll put your brother's eye out! Put that down! I mean it, put it down right this minute or you'll be sorry! Jimmie turned and gave her his most winning smile, and then turned back, again drawing the broom handle back so he could push it through the hole really hard. Donnie was obligingly looking through the other side. Ma renewed her efforts, shrieking and screaming, and finally the inevitable happened. No, Donnie was not blinded. The large window shattered as Ma continued to beat on it, ever harder. Boy, did Jimmie get it for that one! Then, there was the time when he and Donnie were living with their father and his second wife, Etta, that he and Donnie, were on the rooftop of their apartment building looking over the edge at the busy street below. They discussed how they might create a lot of excitement on the street, without getting blamed, and in trouble. At the back of the apartment building there was one tall tree, near the building. They surmised that if they could bend that tree over to the ground, load it with a large brick, and let it go, it would go over the building, land in the street, and there would be much excitement. They could get into the building from the back, get up to their apartment and watch it all, with no one the wiser. First,
however, Jimmie had to convince Donnie to "jump" across to the
tree, and ride it down to They tied it securely, and went in search of a brick, which were easy to find in that neighborhood. On their return they "loaded" their tree "cannon" loosely, so that when the tree was released, it would throw the brick forward with a lot of force to send it over the building. Boy, were they excited! Was this fun or what? They laid out the rest of their plan well. Donnie was to go to the roof, so he could see the immediate effects of their "bomb" dropping, and Jimmie would remain on the ground, using a knife to cut the rope to send their missile on its way. Then, they would quickly run inside, and up to their apartment on the third floor, where they could both look out the front windows to see all the excitement caused by it, while people tried to figure out where it had come from. Donnie got in place, Jimmie cut the rope, and just like it was supposed to, the brick sailed through the air, high up in the air. Oh boy, this was going to work!. However, although the brick did sail high, it was not quite high enough to clear the building... oh no. Where was it going to go. Oh no!!! Jimmie couldn't believe it. He prayed quickly that he was wrong. He wasn't, however. The brick flew right through the kitchen window of their apartment, landing right in the middle of the kitchen table. They could hear Etta shrieking at them... "Jimmie, Donnie, where are you at? You get in here right now!" Donnie flew to the bottom and he and Jimmie began running, Etta's voice fading into the distance, finally. They didn't go home until the latest that they dared. They knew Etta would be waiting for them. The photo, above right, is at a younger age than this happened, of course, but you can just see those devilish grins, even as young as they are here! By the time that Barbara Foley had five children (all of whom are like this except Patty I am told) it is a wonder she kept her sanity. As they grew older, the stories just got larger. The visits we have had with Jim's brother Don, and youngest sister, Linnet, have been absolutely full of stories that keep us all laughing until we are in a lot of pain. Below, this is a photo of Jim's dad (left, in the photo) at the beach with Etta (in black suit).
After Jim married, he also moved to Florida, and lived there for about five years on the gulf coast. From there he came to Alaska. Both of Jim's parents are now dead, and the rest of Jim's family; his sisters and brothers, are scattered up and down the eastern coast, with just one settled in California on the west.
Here are recent photos of Jim and Don taken just this last summer when they first saw each other after more than 30 years! They went moose hunting together, and had a great time getting all caught up without interruptions. They were hunting the week of September 12, and when Jim's friend Ron came to get them at the end of the week, they were very surprised to see him and his airboat "the Mothership" coming up the river looking like this:
And now.... on to more of the Foley Clan
Copyright
2001-2002, all rights reserved.
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Our
history does not go back as far as we'd like for the Foley family yet, mostly because we
haven't had the time we need to devote to research of it. Jim's
great-great grandfather, Laurence Foley, of Pembroke, Maine is as far as
it goes back right now. At some point, the family left Maine and
moved to Gloucester, Massachusetts, where some of them still
remain. Gloucester is a beautiful place with a rich history, all
of it centered around the sea. For more information on Gloucester,
take the link to a page I put together with some links, and some photos
to give you an idea what it was, and what it is, like. 
forenoon with services at his home,
15 Taylor street, followed by a requiem high mass at St. Ann's church at
9:00 p.m. Interment will be at Calvary cemetery. Born in this city, the
son of Mrs. Lydia (Henderson) and the late George Foley, he received his
schooling here. He entered into the police dept. as a reserve patrolman
in 1916. He served as mounted police officer along the Back Shore and
east Gloucester for a season. He was elected a regular patrolman on
March 31, 1921, along with police Capt. Charles L. O'Malley. The careers
of both these officers were closely related for years. Both were elected
Sgt. Sept. 9, 1931. The late Sgt. Foley was a member, with Capt.
O'Malley and the late Sgt. Edmund T. Cronin, of the liquor squad during
the prohibition era, in the years 1923-1925. during this period these
officers spent long hours in the open, spotting those believed involved
in illegal liquor movements. Their greatest haul was made in Essex when
they seized some 800 cases of "alki," the nickname for alcohol
and other liquors. They had trailed a suspect from this city, during the
afternoon, until early the next morning, before they were led to the
huge cache. They made many other seizures because of their vigilance.
another one, so Ma went inside to check on
dinner. Jimmie turned the second one over to Donnie, who was
smaller and gullible, and took the broomstick the snowman was
holding. Ma had punched a bit of a hole for the carrot to hold his
nose. Jimmie removed it, and pushed with the broom handle. Wow...
it made a hole all the way through the snowman! He called
Donnie. "Hey, Donnie! Come look through this neat hole."
As Donnie came toward him, Jimmie put the broom handle back up to the
hole so he could push it through when Donnie looked through from the
other side, popping him in the eye.
the ground, where Jimmie would be waiting with
a stout rope to tie it off (I'm assuming this was a narrow conifer of
some kind). Eventually he succeeded, and Donnie jumped, really high so
he could make it... and he did! Wow, it worked just like it did in
the books! The tree bent over from the top, and right down to the
ground, with Donnie hanging on for dear life, and shouting
"Yahoo!"
