Hellcat News, (Kingman, Ariz.), Vol. 50, No. 9, Ed. 1, May 1997 Page: 19 of 24
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Abilene Library Consortium and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the The 12th Armored Division Memorial Museum.
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is survived by four sisters, nieces and nephews. Rest in peace,
buddy.
Bernice, widow of Henry Kastrup [A] called to let us know
Hank died Feb. 26, 1997, of congestive heart failure and
diabetes. He is survived by his wife, Bernice, six children and
11 grandchildren. Hank was buried at Jefferson Barracks
Nat'l Cemetery in a military ceremony. Very moving. Rest in
peace, old buddy. He and Bernice had been very active in our
unit and how he loved retelling stories from the war years. He
will be sadly missed by his many friends and buddies. By the
way, Bernice is thinking about Columbus and would like to
share a room with another Hellkitten if possible. She also is
wondering if she could possibly ride with someone who would
be near St. Louis. She lives very near to the Henry VIII where
we had a reunion and now has been torn down. We will sure
work on this for you, Bernice.
Howard Thorns [56th] was kind enough to report the passing
of Ralph Messner [C] on Feb. 2,1997, from a heart attack. He is
survived by his wife, Sarah, two sons and a daughter. Our
sincerest condolences to all these families.
Cliff and Colleen Woycke [C] are in good health. He sends
April birthday greetings to Nick Aguilar [HQ], Rosemary
Bostrom [B], Bea Kennedy [B], Dale Kline [C] and Jane, Ed
Long [HQ], Ted Putman [A], Dorothy Rastetter [HQ], Anne
Woytko [B] and Marge Hering [HQ]. Happy anniversary
greetings to Bob and Gerry Thomas [C]. Many, many more to
you all.
May birthday greetings go to Bill Robertson [HQ], Helen
Scott [A], Mary Silsby [A] and Jack Sturman [B]. Also wedding
anniversary greetings to Wy and Rosemary Bostrom [B]. May
you all be blessed with many, many more.
A phone call and letter from John and Bonita McNaull. They
attended the services for our fallen Hellcat, Gerald Bright [HQ]
who passed away Feb. 21, 1997. Also in attendance were Roy
and Emily Davis [A], Hugh and Mary Silsby [A] and John and
Jo Fudge [A-714], with Hugh, Roy and John being pallbearers.
Gerald was a very active, dedicated Hellcat thru the years as
was his wife, Eunice. He will be sadly missed by his many
friends and buddies. Our condolences to his sister, Merea, who
took such loving care of him and attended several reunions
with Gerald. The American Legion was in charge of military
graveside services.
The McNaulls were in Madison, WI, to attend a meeting of
the Nat'l IH Collectors Club where they swap and sell IHC
antiques. Were hoping to see the Mizens there as they had
enjoyed a show previously. Also wrote that Irene Murphy, wife
of Howard [A], has health problems and our thoughts and
prayers are with her. Thanks, you two.
Another later call from John with the sad news that we have
lost our Hellkitten, Ellie Bowers, wife of Washington [HQ],
who passed away Mar. 17,1997. Ellie had suffered from severe
arthritis for years but she was a gutsy lady and Wash lovingly
cared for her. She is survived by her Hellcat, Wash, and sons
Chris and Jeff. We extend our deepest sympathy to Wash and
their family. Our kitten rests in God's house and will be missed
by all who knew her.
Our unit dinner on Fri. nite will be at the hotel and we will
have a choice of stuffing with roast breast of turkey or baked
halibut at $20.00 per person, or top round of roast beef with
mushroom Spanish sauce at $21.50. The complete menu
sounds very delicious. Please let me know if you have any
dietary restrictions. When you send your check to me, please
specify what entree you would like. Thanks, everyone.
God bless and keep you all!
May 1997
HELLCAT NEWS
Page 19
Hey! Don't Forget. . .
572ND AAA...
.. .kicks off their meeting Friday to Sunday, Oct. 3-5, at
the Pocono Plaza Hotel, Stroudsberg, PA. For further
information, check with Chair A1 D'Argenio, 933
Highland st, Whitehall, PA 18052; 610/434-8222.
493rd Armored
Field Artillery
Dale Miller, 5214 Dumfries, Houston, TX 77096
Phone (713) 723-6706
Boosters: Mathilda "Tillie" Schumacher, Iris Sowers.
May Birthdays: Lillian Gault Hawkins-1, Joe McCurdy-4,
Gertrude Banaszak-12, Oscar Grossman-15, Loudene Penney -
15, Helena Betz-17, Glenn Osterhout-19, James DeHaan-21,
Porter Hamrick-24, Otto Schmalfeld-26, Orville Sarles-29,
Madeline Weldon-31, Lillian Palmer-31.
Edward J. Lewandowski [HQ] died Feb. 23, 1997. He is
survived by his son David, daughters Diane and Darlene,
ten grandchildren, four great grandchildren, and sisters
Rose, Lucille and Alice. Orville Cook [HQ] attended the
service. We extend the Battalion's condolences to all of
the survivors.
Paul Gosser [A] has a new phone number: 941-437-1378.
Here comes a heartwarming report: There is no one in the
493rd dropped this year for non-payment of dues! Nicholas
Carracino and Brice Holley were victims of a record keeping
snafu, Ken Sundberg was restored by Tillie Schumacher as a
tribute to Owen, and Iris Sowers picked up the tab for every-
one else. Aren't our Hellkitten widows something?
Incidentally, Tillie reports that she serves weekly as a
volunteer in a local nursing home and that many there are
younger than she is. Iris reports that she is still working in the
same local FM radio station; she's just celebrated 38 years in
sales there. Keep it up, ladies.
We sorrow with Tillie Julson [B] in the death of his mother
Feb. 2 at the age of 100 years and 4 months! Tillie has a lot of
living left to reach the family standard. Tillie and Bunny are
very grateful that the lump removed from Bunny's breast
Mar. 5 was not cancerous, so they are making plans for attend-
ing the North Central at New Ulm, May 1.
It was good to hear from Otto Schmalfeld [A], the
"Ragman," who is still residing in the Elks National Home in
Bedford, VA. He commented that he was offered a commission
before leaving Europe but refused it because he was planning
to get married. He said that he did get married to a wonderful
girl and lived very happily for 34 years.
A good report came in from Renee Boland [B] on the pro-
gress she and Anne Sarles [B] are making in planning the unit
dinner in Columbus. She also reported that she and Joe had a
nice visit with Orville, Anne and Marie Farrand [B] while
Marie was visiting in Florida in January. Renee added that she
had talked to Hannah Davenport [A] and she, too, is planning
to be in Columbus for the reunion. The rest of you don't want
to miss "the good time," do you?
Back to the North Central - heard from Harry and Bettie
Schultz [A] that they, too, have reservations to attend. It
sounds as though there will be a good congregation of
493rd'ers there.
My laryngitis turned out to be the result of a paralyzed left
vocal chord. On Mar. 4 I underwent surgery (a thyroplasty)
which moved the left chord so the right one could make
contact.
Lo and behold I can talk again. I have now completed 19 of
the 20 planned radiation treatments and five of six weeks of
chemo (once per week). The treatments really sapped my
strength and thankfully I have only one more radiation treat-
ment and one of chemo. I know that there are others of you
who are as ill or more so than I have been. To you I pass along
these words sent to me by one of my daughters, "Stay
positive, rest but fight hard."
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Twelfth Armored Division Association (U.S.). Hellcat News, (Kingman, Ariz.), Vol. 50, No. 9, Ed. 1, May 1997, newspaper, May 1997; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth410115/m1/19/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting The 12th Armored Division Memorial Museum.