KINGSLEY YOUTH AMONG THE DEAD
Parents of Ramon Gernhart Learn He Was Lost In Germany
Kingsley News-Times: The tragedy of war again came home to the Kingsley community last Wednesday, when Mr. and Mrs. Leon Gernhart received a telegram from the War Department that their son, Ramon Gernhart, stationed in the European theater of war, was killed in the performance of his duty and in the service of his country.
Only a day previously they had received notification that he had been wounded in action.
The War Department forbids publication of the name and number of the outfit to which soldiers are usually attached, but it was known that he was in France, and it is presumed that he lost his life in the breaching of the enemy defenses, on the drive into Germany.
Ramon Gernhart was born Jan. 15, 1926, on a farm near Lawton. At the age of seven he came to this vicinity with his parents, where he grew to young manhood, and graduated from high school, with the Class of 1944. Last August he entered the service of his country and took his preliminary training at Camp Fannin, Texas, and was shipped overseas to the European war theater last January. The War Department message stated he was seriously wounded in action on March 15 in France and he died of his wounds March 16.
His mother died in February, 1940. He is survived by his father, Leon Gernhart, two brothers, Arthur and Lewis; a sister, LaVonne; his stepmother, two step sisters and a step brother, James, Joyce and Janet Sutherland; his grandmother, Mrs. Adah Luscombe, of Ida Grove, Ia.
Taken in the prime of his youth, Ramon was a fine lad, well liked by everyone who knew him, and was a popular student during his school life, where he excelled in football and track.
Source: LeMars Globe-Post, April 9, 1945
***Further Research:
Ramon died Mar. 16, 1945 and is buried in Kingsley Cemetery, Kingsley, IA. Pvt. Gernhart served with the 397th Infantry, 100th Infantry Division.
Source: ancestry.com
