Confirmation

Got a phone call from my father a few days ago. He spoke to his older brother, who confirmed Grandpa Walt did enlist in the military. But his service was brief. He was discharged due to a severe health condition.

My father also told me he remembers attending a Gene Autry rodeo with his father and brother. A rodeo bronco named Applesauce got too close to the edge of the ring and banged up my uncle's legs with his bucking. When I talk to my uncle, I'm supposed to ask him about Applesauce.

I wasn't sure how my dad would react to my investigating his father's past. I was afraid it might bring up a lot of unpleasant memories for him. But he seems to want to learn more. How will this research affect my relationship with my Dad?

Enlisting in the Army

Ancestry.com comes through! Still no information on the grave location, but a helpful genealogist located a military enlistment record for my grandfather:

Walter M. Lewis, born 1912.
Enlisted in U.S. Army on August 18, 1943 in Pennsylvania.
Rank: Private.
Enlistment "for the duration of the War, or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President."
Education: one year of high school.
Civil occupation: machinist.
Marital status: separated with dependents.

So I've learned for the first time I have a family member who served in World War II. What happened to him while he was in the Army? Add to task list: locate any additional military records.

Cross Country on a Motorcycle

The search for the grave begins. I scanned some Pittsburgh cemetery listings provided by the Ancestry.com community. No luck yet.

While at my parents’ house over Thanksgiving, I asked my dad about any memories he had of his father. To my surprise, Dad did not know his father very well. The family split up when he was about three years old.

My dad told me that his parents took a motorcycle trip from Pittsburgh to California with their oldest son Donald in tow! (He must have been a young child then.) Why did they take that trip? Were they two adventurers in love? If so, what happened that lead to the breakup?

Still, more questions than answers.

Walter Martin Lewis, 1912 - 1948

Walter Martin Lewis was the only one of my grandparents I never knew. He died at age 36, 17 years before I was born. He and my grandmother divorced, and my father – his son—seems to have lost all contact with him. After the divorce, my grandmother remarried and she and the three children moved to Canada. After another divorce, she married again and they returned to the United States.

So far, I’ve heard two family stories about how Grandpa Walt met his fate. One is that he was hit by a street car. Another is that he was strangled while in a telephone booth. I don’t know whether either of these stories is true, but death by natural causes seems unlikely for someone so young. Maybe it’s a story the family prefers not to tell.

Everyone seems to agree he is buried in or around Pittsburgh, but no one seems to know where. Even my dad is not sure where it is. Apparently he is buried in a family plot, but the grave may be unmarked. Is there a connection between an unmarked grave and how his life ended?

This blog will track my efforts to find out what happened to Grandpa Walt, locate the grave, and learn some things about a man whom, in other circumstances, I might have known myself. It may also be a place to write about family members I’ll be meeting for the first time. I’m looking forward to the journey.