Bro. Edsel Walter Johnson

A note received in late December 2007 announced the death of Brother Edsel Walter Johnson in Gibsonia, Pennsylvania on October 17, 2007. No information regarding his death was available and his widow, Stella Johnson, has been unreachable by telephone. Brother Edsel was initiated into Daylight Lodge November 26, 1949, passed to Fellow Craft January 14, 1950, and raised to the Master Mason degree on February 11, 1950. He had been a Mason for 58 years. He was born in Saline County, Kansas on February 18,1923 and was 83 years old at the time of his death.

EDSEL W. JOHNSON, 84, of Richland Twp. on Oct. 17, 2007. Husband of Stella (Young) Johnson; father of Linda (Lewis) Murphy Esq., Cpt. Steven (Karen) Johnson and Rev. Peggy Tobin; brother of Frances Day. Survived by 8 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. Visitation Saturday 2-4 and 7-9 pm at KING FUNERAL HOME, INC., Rt. 8 at 2841 Woodland Circle, Allison Park, PA 15101 where services will be on Sunday at 1:00pm. www.kingfuneralhome.com. Send condolences at post-gazette.com/gb

Edsel W. Johnson, 84, of Richland Township, Pa. passed away on Wednesday, October 17, 2007 at his home. Edsel was born February 18, 1923 in Saline County, Kansas.

Edsel was the quintessential quiet American man working as part of our “Greatest Generation” for the good of his family, his friends, his business colleagues and the nation. Edsel grew up working on a farm during the Great Depression in an area pioneered by Scandinavians. Having been taught primarily in a one room schoolhouse between chores, Edsel worked his way through college earning an aeronautical engineering degree by first attending McPherson College and finishing his degree at the University of Kansas in 1947. When World War II started, he volunteered and joined the Naval Reserve while still a student. He was later commissioned as a LT JG in the United States Navy. He served during World War II leading teams of aircraft maintenance technicians repairing and servicing naval fighter aircraft and bombers staging out of Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Upon being ordered to return to California at the end of the War, Edsel went AWOL to travel nonstop by jitney car back to Lawrence, Kansas to marry the love of his life, his wife of 67 years, Stella Young Johnson. They returned to California to complete his term of naval service.
 

After the Navy, Edsel joined Alcoa as an aeronautical engineer and made his career with that company. He retired in 1984. Edsel, Stella and their family moved to western PA in 1959 and became a part of our community. As a deeply religious man, Edsel was a member of the North Hills Community Baptist Church for many years. He also contributed to the community as a Shriner and a 32nd degree Mason. After retirement from Alcoa, he served as an officer and President of his local VFW Post. Edsel’s passing creates a deep hole in many hearts for a good honorable man the likes of which is seldom seen. Edsel is survived by his loving wife Stella, his best friend and companion who nursed him unswervingly through his final illness, their daughter Linda J. Murphy of Balmville, New York and Coconut Grove, Florida, their son Capt. Steven W. Johnson of Brookeville, Maryland, their daughter Peggy J. Tobin of Goshen, New York, their son-in-law, Lewis F. Murphy and daughter-in-law Karen Johnson, his sister Frances Day of Hutchinson, Kansas and her husband Bill, eight grandchildren and two great grandchildren: Brandy M. Keenan and her son Phineas E. Keenan and her daughter Eowyn M. Keenan, Logan I. Murphy, Devon N. Murphy, Cheryl J. Machi, Erin Johnson, Matthew Johnson, Katie T. Lane and Alex Tobin.

A viewing will be held on Saturday, October 20, 2007 at the Herbert R. King, Jr. Funeral Home, Inc. 2841 Woodland Circle, Allison Park PA 15101 from 2:00 till 4:00pm and 7:00 till 9:00 pm where the funeral service will be held on Sunday, October 21, 2007. Interment with military honors will be privately attended at Allegheny County Memorial Park.

Bro. Edward Lee Thrasher, Sr.

Daylight Lodge also mourns the loss of Brother Edward Lee Thrasher Sr., 72, who died on Wednesday, January 30, at his home. His wife, Marjorie Thrasher, who passed away in late December 2007, preceded him in death. Five children, ten grandchildren, two great grandchildren, his mother and a sister survive him. He was a former truck driver for Johnson Controls, a Navy veteran, and a member of St. Stephen United Church of Christ. He was initiated July 23, 1960, passed to Fellow Craft September 10, 1960, and raised to Master Mason March 24, 1962.

EDWARD LEE THRASHER, SR., 71, of Louisville, passed away Wednesday, January 30, 2008 at his home. He had been a truck driver for Johnson Controls and Walker Recycling. He was a Navy veteran of the Korean War, a member of St. Stephen United Church of Christ, Masonic Lodge #760. He was also a Teamster and a Kentucky Colonel. He was preceded in death by his wife, Marjorie Thrasher. He is survived by his children, Rebecca Thrasher, Edward L. Thrasher Jr. and James Thrasher; stepchildren, Donald L. Buckler and Connie L. Buckler Gill; grandchildren, Chanse, Taylor, Saundra Gail, Nina, Sabrina, James and Ben Thrasher; mother, Margaret Thrasher; stepgrandchildren, Rachel and Alexander Buckler; sister, Betty Simms; and two great-grandchildren. His service will be 10 a.m. Saturday at Owen Funeral Home, 5317 Dixie Highway, with burial in Beth Haven Cemetery. Visitation is 1-7 p.m. Friday at the funeral home.

From Bob Hill, Courier-Journal Columnist - Published on Thursday, April 5, 2007

The April 1 newspaper obituary was brief, factual and impersonal -- one of the many we scan every day before moving on to news, sports or features.

It said Grant E. "Eli" Martin, 85, Mount Washington, a Baptist by faith, was retired from the Louisville Housing Authority, had been Master of Daylight Masonic Lodge No. 760 and was a World War II Army veteran. Survivors included his wife, Kathleen, and a daughter, Judy Walters.

It was not enough. More needed to be said in that obituary, and in so many others in which lives flash before our eyes in a gray blur of names, vital statistics and funeral details.

Grant Elias "Eli" Martin was born on June 29, 1921, on Lytle Street in Portland. His mother worked for the Salvation Army; his father drove a horse-drawn ice wagon for the Artic Ice Co.

He graduated from Shawnee High School, enlisted in the Army in 1939. He was sent to England at the onset of World War II, where he volunteered for the newly formed 1st Ranger Battalion modeled after -- and aided by -- British commandos. The Rangers trained with the commandos under live fire at a remote camp in rugged, rainy Achnacarry, Scotland. The group would later be known as "Darby's Rangers" in honor of their commander, Capt. William Darby.

Martin was one of 49 Rangers who took part in the poorly planned and ultimately disastrous raid on Dieppe, France, in August 1942, in which 4,384 of the 6,086 men who made it ashore were killed, wounded or captured. The 49 Americans were the first to see action against the Germans in the war.

Martin was wounded near Tunisia in 1943. He returned to combat, was captured, taken to Sicily -- and escaped.

He was with Darby's Rangers during their invasion of Sicily and Italy. Near Cisterna, Italy, the relatively lightly armed Rangers became trapped behind enemy lines on open ground, facing brutal German fire and Panzer tanks. The Germans placed captured Rangers in front of the tanks and demanded the others surrender. Of the 767 Rangers in the battle, all but six were killed, wounded or taken prisoner.

Martin was taken to a POW camp in Germany. He escaped and was recaptured; the Germans smashed his hands with a shovel as punishment. He escaped again, made his way back to American lines and finished the war fighting with the rugged 10th Mountain Division. He was awarded two Bronze Stars for valor and two Purple Hearts.

After the war he returned to Louisville, where he was active in the Masons and worked in security for the Louisville Housing Authority. He rarely talked to anyone about his war experiences.

About five years ago he did speak with a man named Mike Murphy, an Indiana state representative from Marion County. Murphy, a military historian, had been related to Martin by marriage. Murphy would name his son -- Kevin Grant Murphy -- in Martin's honor. Murphy said Martin would talk about the war, then choke up and begin crying.

Martin's hobbies were building model airplanes, painting by number and collecting Jim Beam bottles -- the latter with his wife. His fun was telling great Irish stories. He was very proud of his Rangers. He kept many rolls of film taken of buddies during the war -- but never developed them. He died last Saturday of esophageal cancer.

All he ever told his wife and daughter about the war was that he was wounded a couple of times -- and had been a POW. Kathleen Martin never pushed for more information. She said her husband had been a good and caring man who enjoyed being around people.