Raymond Earnest Aldrich died Dec. 18, 1944, when the U.S. Navy ship on which he was serving went down in the Pacific Ocean in a typhoon during World War II. A memorial service and dedication of a gravestone will be at noon Monday at Greenwood Cemetery. The family invites all present and former friends and relatives to join them to celebrate the final resting place, both at the graveside and following the ceremony at the home of Milton and Sandy Smail.
His family first came to the village of Bemidji in 1905 and settled on Mississippi Avenue in 1909. His parents, Marion Albert and Glendolia Belle (Sprauge) Aldrich, raised their nine children in Bemidji; Myrtle, Lorretta, Buck (Marion), Raymond, Gertrude, Lillian and Vera (now deceased), Wallace and Leroy (Pat). They all attended school in Bemidji.
The dedication ceremony will be the first time all of his surviving children have been together since shortly after his death in 1944. In addition to his parents and siblings (at the time of his death) he was survived by his wife Nellie Rose Parker Aldrich and eight children; Raymond Charles Aldrich (now deceased), Shirley Ann Aldrich March, Lorna Marie Aldrich Rodriquez (now deceased), Lawrence Albert Aldrich, Douglas Allen Aldrich, William Eugene Aldrich, Sandra Kathryn Aldrich Reynolds Smail, and Judith Mae Aldrich Scarborough. He has 26 grandchildren, 30 great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren.
A memorial service was originally held for Aldrich, but a grave marker was never placed for him because there wasn't a body. Now, years after his death, his six surviving children finally have a headstone in Greenwood Cemetery from the Veterans Administration for their father.
This also marks the first time the entire family has been together in 55 years. "We can finally put him to rest even though there isn't a body," March said. (Bemidji Pioneer May 29, 1999)
(C. McKeig)
Fireman 2c USNR - USS Spence
ALDRICH, Raymond E, F2, 9608945, USNR, from Minnesota, USS Spence, location Philippine Islands, missing, date of loss December 18,
1944.
Raymond Earnest Aldrich died Dec. 18, 1944, when the U.S. Navy ship on which he was serving went down in the Pacific Ocean in a typhoon during World War II. A memorial service and dedication of a gravestone will be at noon Monday at Greenwood Cemetery. The family invites all present and former friends and relatives to join them to celebrate the final resting place, both at the graveside and following the ceremony at the home of Milton and Sandy Smail.
His family first came to the village of Bemidji in 1905 and settled on Mississippi Avenue in 1909. His parents, Marion Albert and Glendolia Belle (Sprauge) Aldrich, raised their nine children in Bemidji; Myrtle, Lorretta, Buck (Marion), Raymond, Gertrude, Lillian and Vera (now deceased), Wallace and Leroy (Pat). They all attended school in Bemidji.
The dedication ceremony will be the first time all of his surviving children have been together since shortly after his death in 1944. In addition to his parents and siblings (at the time of his death) he was survived by his wife Nellie Rose Parker Aldrich and eight children; Raymond Charles Aldrich (now deceased), Shirley Ann Aldrich March, Lorna Marie Aldrich Rodriquez (now deceased), Lawrence Albert Aldrich, Douglas Allen Aldrich, William Eugene Aldrich, Sandra Kathryn Aldrich Reynolds Smail, and Judith Mae Aldrich Scarborough. He has 26 grandchildren, 30 great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren.
A memorial service was originally held for Aldrich, but a grave marker was never placed for him because there wasn't a body. Now, years after his death, his six surviving children finally have a headstone in Greenwood Cemetery from the Veterans Administration for their father.
This also marks the first time the entire family has been together in 55 years. "We can finally put him to rest even though there isn't a body," March said. (Bemidji Pioneer May 29, 1999)
(C. McKeig)
Fireman 2c USNR - USS Spence
ALDRICH, Raymond E, F2, 9608945, USNR, from Minnesota, USS Spence, location Philippine Islands, missing, date of loss December 18,
1944.
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