Parsons, Mona Louise

  • From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: See full biography at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_Louise_Parsons
  • Wiki Biography:
    • Mona Louise Parsons (February 17, 1901 – November 28, 1976) was a Canadian actress, nurse, and member of an informal Dutch resistance network in the Netherlands from 1940 to 1941 during the Nazi occupation. She became the only Canadian female civilian to be imprisoned by the Nazis and one of the first and few women to be tried by a Nazi military tribunal in the Netherlands.
    • She received commendations for her bravery in helping Allied airmen evade capture from both Air Chief Marshal Lord Arthur Tedder of the Royal Air Force on behalf of the British people and from General Dwight Eisenhower, who expressed the gratitude of the American people.
    • Parsons was born in Middleton, Nova Scotia. Upon graduating from the Acadia Ladies’ Seminary in Wolfville, Nova Scotia with a certificate in elocution, Parsons attended the Currie School of Expression in Boston. She returned to Wolfville to attend Acadia University for a time, where she acted in several productions. After leaving Acadia, Parsons briefly taught elocution at Conway Central College in Conway, Arkansas. She studied acting and moved to New York City in 1929, where she became a Ziegfeld chorus girl in the Ziegfeld Follies revues. She later became a nurse after attending the Jersey School of Medicine from which she graduated cum laude in 1935. She was employed in the Park Avenue offices of an expatriate Nova Scotia otolaryngologist. In February 1937, Parsons’ brother introduced her to millionaire Dutch businessman Willem Leonhardt. The couple married in Laren, Netherlands on September 1, 1937.
    • Upon the invasion of the Netherlands by the Germans in May 1940, Parsons joined a network of resistance composed of people from diverse walks of life: farmers, teachers, businesspeople. Like the famous Corrie ten Boom, Parsons sheltered downed Allied airmen in her home, “Ingleside”, near Laren. At the beginning of the German occupation, Parsons dismissed her servants so that their quarters on the top floor of Ingleside could be used to accommodate Allied airmen.
  • Second Great Granddaughter of United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=4370
  • Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/23499889/mona_louise-foster