Pfc. Elmer Stricker, 23, Killed in Action on Luzon
Entered Service in September; Home on Furlough in January
Pfc. Elmer Stricker, 23, son of Mr. and Mrs. Gottfreid Stricker of Rudd and formerly of Mason City, was killed in action on Luzon May 17, 1945, according to a telegram received by the family from the adjutant general's office.
Stricker, who was a member of the Bethlehem Lutheran church in Mason City, entered the service in Mason City last September, at which time the family lived on a farm west of Mason City.
The youth was home on furlough in January before leaving for the Pacific war theater.
Source: Mason City Globe-Gazette, May 28, 1945 (photo included)
Bodies Arrive From Overseas
North Iowans Among
Pacific War Heroes
San Francisco, (U.P.)—The bodies of 3,500 war dead from Manila, Saipan and Honolulu are due here Wednesday aboard the U.S. army transport Morris Crain.
They will bring to more than 30,000 returned from the Pacific since the reburial program was started last October.
North Iowans on the ship include the following with the next of kin named for each:
Pvt. Clarence Bily, Oelwein; Frank Bily.
Pfc. Glen S. Coonradt, Osage; Mrs. Glen S. Coonradt.
Pvt. William J. Knowlen, Charles City; Olive L. Bogart.
Capt. Homer L. Lund, Forest City; Nick H. Lund.
Pfc. Donald W. M. Niemoth, Estherville; Mrs. Marie C. Niemoth.
James M. Oldham, navy, Charles City; Francis Oldham.
Pvt. Arlo B. Parker, Mason City; Eleanor Parker.
Pfc. Elmer G. Stricker, Mason City; Gottfried F. Stricker.
Pfc. Gerald E. Timm, Hawkeye; Ervin H. Timm.
Source: Mason City Globe-Gazette, Thursday, September 23, 1948
Pfc. Elmer Stricker Rites to Be Held on Wednesday
Services for Pfc. Elmer G. Stricker, who died in battle near Manila on May 7, 1945, will be held at the Meyer funeral home Wednesday at 2 p.m., with the Rev. C.A. Hinz, pastor of the Bethlehem Lutheran church, officiating.
Burial will be at the Field of Honor in Memorial Park cemetery. The body will arrive in Mason City Wednesday at 10:02 a.m. via the Rock Island lines.
Pfc. Stricker was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Gottfried Stricker, 1728 Penn, N.E. He entered the service from Mason City in September, 1944, at which time the family live on a farm near Mason City.
Surviving are his parents, 2 sisters, Mrs. Henry Miller, Sioux City, and Mrs. Kenneth Fraser, Algona, and 2 brothers, Jack and Robert Stricker, Mason City.
The Meyer funeral home in charge.
Source: Mason City Globe-Gazette, October 11, 1948
Elmer G. Stricker was born Feb. 18, 1922 to Gottfried F. and Margaret Miller Stricker. He died May 7, 1945 and is buried in Memorial Park Cemetery, Mason City, IA.
Pvt. Stricker served in World War II with the U.S. Army and was KIA on Luzon, Philippine Islands.
Source: ancestry.com
