World War II
St. John the Evangelist Church, North Cambridge. After serving his nation in WWII, Reverend Francis Ready served the people of Cambridge for the remainder of his life.
Francis Ready registered for the draft on July 1st, 1941. We never knew he served until we visited him in the nursing home and the priest anointing him turned to us and said, "Man it's incredible what this man did in the Pacific during the war!" Turns out he must have served in the Pacific during WWII, but when he later became a priest that superseded all else and he never told us the old war stories. Even his funeral was a priest's funeral rather than a military funeral. While his later life revolved around service to the Catholic Church, we commemorate his service to the protection of our country in WWII as well.