Body of Capt. John McElroy Reaches U. S.
One Waterloo soldier was listed among the war dead being returned to the homeland Wednesday from Europe on the SS Eric C. Gibson, in the fifth such transferal since Congress authorized the program in 1946.
The body of Capt. John R. McElroy of the army medical corps, son of Mr. and Mrs. C. E. McElroy, 722 Colorado street, was being brought to Waterloo. He was fatally wounded July 28, 1944, in France.
The ship was expected to arrive at New York at 2 p. m. Wednesday, bearing 1,753 American war dead, most of them casualties in the establishment of the Normandy beachhead. Fifteen are from Iowa.
Captain McElroy was 29, and had been serving as battalion surgeon about 300 yards behind the front lines. He had graduated in medicine at the State University of Iowa, Iowa City, and was serving his internship when he entered service in June, 1942. He had been a resident of Waterloo since childhood.
His parents, his wife and one daughter, Kathie Jean, 4, survive.
The body will be brought to Parrott & Wood funeral home in Waterloo, and arrangements for burial services will be announced later.
Source: Waterloo Daily Courier, Waterloo, Iowa, Wednesday, January 21, 1948, Page 3
Funeral For Capt. McElroy
Set Tuesday
The body of Capt. John R. McElroy, 28, who was fatally wounded in France July 28, 1944, will arrive in Waterloo on the Illinois Central railroad for final rites Tuesday at 8:30 a. m., it was learned yesterday at Parrott & Wood funeral home, where the body is to be taken.
Funeral services will be conducted at the funeral home on Tuesday at 1:30 p. m. by Rev. Harry J. Moore, pastor of Westminster Presbyterian church. Burial will be in Memorial Park cemetery.
The husband of Mrs. Louise Lehrman McElroy, 722 Colorado street, and the son of Mr. and Mrs. C. E. McElroy, 519 Baltimore street, he was a member of the Allied landing forces in France and had been serving as a battalion surgeon about 300 yards behind the front lines.
Born, Apr. 27, 1916, in Sangamon county, Ill., McElroy came to Waterloo with his parents when he was six years old.
He was married here to Louise Lehrman on June 20, 1942.
McElroy had graduated from the college of medicine at the State University of Iowa, Iowa City, and was serving his internship when he entered the service in June, 1942.
Surviving in addition to his widow and parents are a daughter, Kathie Jean, 4, and a brother, Charles, 134 Woodstock road.
A sister preceded him in death.
Source: Waterloo Daily Courier, Waterloo, Iowa, Sunday, February 08, 1948, Page 5
