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Richard Riegle Lentz

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Richard Riegle Lentz

Birth
Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, USA
Death
4 Feb 1951 (aged 38)
Japan
Burial
Millersburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, USA Add to Map
Plot
Div 6 Lot 59
Memorial ID
View Source
2nd Son of Charles Warren Lentz and Minnie Mae Riegle Lentz. Richard married and divorced 1st. Goldie Sheesley and 2nd. Mariam Gerchman. He had two daughters, Gloria Schoffstall and Mary Ann Prince, that live in Pennsylvania with their families. He served, along with his six brothers in the military as described in the following newspaper article.

Second War Death in 6 Years For Millersburg Family
The Patriot – Harrisburg, Pa., Monday, February 5, 1951, pages 1 and 2 (includes photo).

Here is a little story on the price some Americans are paying for two wars within a decade.
Shortly after 2 o'clock yesterday afternoon, just as the dinner dishes were being cleared away, Western Union delivered a message to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Charles W. Lentz, of 322 Center Street, Millersburg.
It was the stock and stilted Department of Army message sent to thousands of homes in the past decade.
"It is with deep regret…" the message started in a feeble effort to personalize the heart-breaking news. And maybe to take the edge off the blow.
The only difference in this one was the name. It was that of Air Force S Sgt. Richard R. Lentz, 38. Briefly it told the parents their son died in Japan the day before. There were no other details.
The shock of the message is difficult to imagine.

NO PREVIOUS WORD
There had been no previous word that their son was in ill health, wounded or in anyway near death. Yesterday's message promised details later.
It was just several weeks ago they received a letter from their second eldest son telling them he had been returned from Korea to Japan for a rest. Nothing to hint at anything more serious.
The message said Richard was dead. That was it.
It is six years to the month that the Lentzs received a similar message. The first time it bore the name of Eugene C. Lentz

ENSIGN KILLED IN ‘45
Eugene, Navy ensign was killed when his Landing Ship Tank struck a mine and blew up February 12, 1945, during the invasion of Leyte, Philippine Islands. Eugene was the bridge officer.
The wars now have claimed the lives of two of the Lentz's seven sons who saw active military service.
Last night, Mr. Lentz, 66, now a watchman in the State Senate chambers walked into this newspaper office and wondered if he might "have a little article put in the paper" about Richard's death.

TEARS FILL EYES
He was on his way to work but only to check in and then return home to share his grief with his wife.
Some tears filled his eyes and he choked up a little as he sat down to relate some of the military background of his son usually required for casualty stories.
He said he was interested in getting the news in the paper because Richard knew many people on Capitol Hill.
Richard worked in the Senate as a page for eight years starting with the 1929 session and had made many friends. The father thought they would be interested.

UNCLE WELL KNOWN
And then too, his uncle, James Lentz, who died five years ago, was a former Dauphin County Commissioner.
Mr. Lentz said his son failed twice during World War II to pass the physical test. During these years he helped his father farm the grandmother's 120 acres near Millersburg and also work for a time in Harrisburg.
Finally he tried again and the Air Force accepted him and he enlisted August 3, 1946.

WROTE OFTEN
He trained at Biloxi, Miss., and Chanute Field, Id., before being shipped to the Far East in June 1947. He re-enlisted in 1949 in Japan.
He had been home once before going overseas but wrote often, according to his father.
The elder Lentz gave up the farm in 1948 when he was no longer able to handle the work alone with all his sons scattered.
Richard was a graduate of Berrysburg Vocational High School and Harrisburg Academy which he attended while working as a page.
His surviving brothers are Clair, of Goldsboro, N.C., who served as an Air Corps first lieutenant; Robert, of Elizabethville, a former Navy 2nd class seaman; William B., of Millersburg, a former infantry staff sergeant; Paul, of Seattle, Wash., a onetime infantry lieutenant, and Carl, of Millersburg, who served in the Army.

Brothers:
Clair Riegle Lentz (1910 - 1975)
Richard Riegle Lentz (1912 - 1951)
Eugene Clinton Lentz (1915 - 1945)
Robert Calvin Lentz (1917 - 1997)
Senator William Benjamin Lentz (1920 - 1977)
Paul Jacob Lentz (1922 - 2005)
Carl Coolidge Lentz (1925 - 2006)

2nd Son of Charles Warren Lentz and Minnie Mae Riegle Lentz. Richard married and divorced 1st. Goldie Sheesley and 2nd. Mariam Gerchman. He had two daughters, Gloria Schoffstall and Mary Ann Prince, that live in Pennsylvania with their families. He served, along with his six brothers in the military as described in the following newspaper article.

Second War Death in 6 Years For Millersburg Family
The Patriot – Harrisburg, Pa., Monday, February 5, 1951, pages 1 and 2 (includes photo).

Here is a little story on the price some Americans are paying for two wars within a decade.
Shortly after 2 o'clock yesterday afternoon, just as the dinner dishes were being cleared away, Western Union delivered a message to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Charles W. Lentz, of 322 Center Street, Millersburg.
It was the stock and stilted Department of Army message sent to thousands of homes in the past decade.
"It is with deep regret…" the message started in a feeble effort to personalize the heart-breaking news. And maybe to take the edge off the blow.
The only difference in this one was the name. It was that of Air Force S Sgt. Richard R. Lentz, 38. Briefly it told the parents their son died in Japan the day before. There were no other details.
The shock of the message is difficult to imagine.

NO PREVIOUS WORD
There had been no previous word that their son was in ill health, wounded or in anyway near death. Yesterday's message promised details later.
It was just several weeks ago they received a letter from their second eldest son telling them he had been returned from Korea to Japan for a rest. Nothing to hint at anything more serious.
The message said Richard was dead. That was it.
It is six years to the month that the Lentzs received a similar message. The first time it bore the name of Eugene C. Lentz

ENSIGN KILLED IN ‘45
Eugene, Navy ensign was killed when his Landing Ship Tank struck a mine and blew up February 12, 1945, during the invasion of Leyte, Philippine Islands. Eugene was the bridge officer.
The wars now have claimed the lives of two of the Lentz's seven sons who saw active military service.
Last night, Mr. Lentz, 66, now a watchman in the State Senate chambers walked into this newspaper office and wondered if he might "have a little article put in the paper" about Richard's death.

TEARS FILL EYES
He was on his way to work but only to check in and then return home to share his grief with his wife.
Some tears filled his eyes and he choked up a little as he sat down to relate some of the military background of his son usually required for casualty stories.
He said he was interested in getting the news in the paper because Richard knew many people on Capitol Hill.
Richard worked in the Senate as a page for eight years starting with the 1929 session and had made many friends. The father thought they would be interested.

UNCLE WELL KNOWN
And then too, his uncle, James Lentz, who died five years ago, was a former Dauphin County Commissioner.
Mr. Lentz said his son failed twice during World War II to pass the physical test. During these years he helped his father farm the grandmother's 120 acres near Millersburg and also work for a time in Harrisburg.
Finally he tried again and the Air Force accepted him and he enlisted August 3, 1946.

WROTE OFTEN
He trained at Biloxi, Miss., and Chanute Field, Id., before being shipped to the Far East in June 1947. He re-enlisted in 1949 in Japan.
He had been home once before going overseas but wrote often, according to his father.
The elder Lentz gave up the farm in 1948 when he was no longer able to handle the work alone with all his sons scattered.
Richard was a graduate of Berrysburg Vocational High School and Harrisburg Academy which he attended while working as a page.
His surviving brothers are Clair, of Goldsboro, N.C., who served as an Air Corps first lieutenant; Robert, of Elizabethville, a former Navy 2nd class seaman; William B., of Millersburg, a former infantry staff sergeant; Paul, of Seattle, Wash., a onetime infantry lieutenant, and Carl, of Millersburg, who served in the Army.

Brothers:
Clair Riegle Lentz (1910 - 1975)
Richard Riegle Lentz (1912 - 1951)
Eugene Clinton Lentz (1915 - 1945)
Robert Calvin Lentz (1917 - 1997)
Senator William Benjamin Lentz (1920 - 1977)
Paul Jacob Lentz (1922 - 2005)
Carl Coolidge Lentz (1925 - 2006)



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