Help find family of a deceased WWII airman

[Matteo La Boccia]

Thanks. Someone in USA can contact him to ask more informations? I'm in Italy and are not fluently to speak in english....

 

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[Mackaydon]

I'm on it.
Don......

 

[Matteo La Boccia]

Thanks!!

 

[Mackaydon]

No one knows Mr. Lewis at that number.
Now waiting for the appropriate person to be at her desk at the cemetery to ask if Julius P. Lewis is buried there.
Don.....

 

[Mackaydon]

The cemetery denies Lewis is buried there.
Captain Esteban: Your link takes me to the main page of Ancentry. Does the site you saw mention anything more regarding the application; like the date of the application or Mr. Lewis's contact information?
Don......

 

[CaptEsteban]

Applied for by;

Herbert B. Lewis
1104 Meurilee Lane
Silver Springs, Md.

Date 8/17/1949

 

[CaptEsteban]

I have sent contact to who I believe to be a family member, & am awaiting a response. I will let you know if & when I hear from them.

 

[Mackaydon]

The response from the cemetery's office:
"The application for a marker at the cemetery puzzles me, because B’nai Israel does not directly participate in marker purchases these days. A family member who wants to place a marker contracts with a stonemason of their choosing. All we do is allow access to the cemetery at the time the marker needs to be placed. As I mentioned, I don’t have Lieutenant Lewis on my cemetery spreadsheet, so this will require a little more research."
And that I will do.
I gave her a link to this thread; she is now part of the hunt.

Don.......

 

[wassermj]

There's a mention of Mr. Lewis in a Washington Post article from 1943 on local men killed in the war:

"Second Lieut. Julius P. Lewis, son of Mrs. Julius Lewis, 4606 Eighth Street Northwest." (DC)

 

[Mackaydon]

Reference to the same address for his date of birth here:
Lewis in 1940 US Census
Don....

 

[Mackaydon]

Another clue appeared in the “JewishFloridian” newspaper of September 3, 1943:
“Lt. Julius P. Lewis, 24, ofWashington, D.C., a member of the Army Air Corps, was killed incombat over North Africa.
He has been posthumously awarded the PurpleHeart.
He was in his third year at Wilson Teachers College when he enlisted."


Source: (Page 7 Col. 5) The Jewish Floridian
PS: Update: [FONT=&quot]In 1955, following Brown vs. Board of Education, Wilson merged with its black counterpart, Miner Teachers College, to form District of Columbia Teachers College. Source: [/FONT]http://www.lostcolleges.com/wilson-teachers-college

 

[CaptEsteban]

I have found contact information for the family, & have sent it to the original poster.

 

[Matteo La Boccia]

Many thanks to all for your help!

 

[Mackaydon]

Matteo,
If you have received the contact information as Capt. E. mentioned above, please let me know. Otherwise, here is extended communications from my friends who are involved in the search:
DearMr. MacKay,

Followingup on your inquiry about Lieutenant Julius P. Lewis, please see theinformation below. It was gathered by one of our former congregants,who is very involved in genealogical research, especially JewishGenealogy. Some of this you probably have, hopefully some of it isnew. Unfortunately, none of it points definitively to a family memberwith whom you could communicate, but possibly with more research youwill be successful in your search. I thinkthe reference to Herbert Lewis’ son Gerald, last

There is a reference to the request for a marker for B’nai IsraelCemetery at Oxon Hill, which you also mentioned previously. That request was not recent however, it was from 1949. We have no recordof any recent communication with the family.

I have attached a photo of the marker for Joseph Lewis, who was Lieutenant Lewis’ father. Presumably Joseph’s wife Miriam(Lieutenant Lewis’ mother), is also buried at our cemetery next to Joseph, but there isn’t a marker for her. The person taking the photograph did not send a photo of a marker for Lieutenant Lewis, so possibly the marker was never installed, or possibly Lieutenant Lewisis buried elsewhere. My records do show three plots in the Lewis nameat the cemetery, one of which is Joseph's, but no first names are listed in the record. Given that Joseph is definitelythere (based on the marker), there is a chancethat the other two are Miriam and Lieutenant Lewis.

A tthis point I think the trail has gone cold at Oxon Hill Cemetery, bu tpossibly the threads below will lead you to success.

Please let me know if you have further questions. We would love to know what happens from here. Please keep in touch.

Sincerely,
Laurie

LauriePfeifer
Assistantto the Executive Director
B'naiIsrael Congregation
6301Montrose Rd
Rockville,MD 20852
301-881-6550,x512
FAX:301-881-6221



From: MarleneBishow [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wednesday,November 01, 2017 2:28 PM
To: LauriePfeifer <[email protected]>
Subject: RE:Help finding Julius Lewis--B'nai Israel cemetery at OxonHill, MD
Ifyou have a minute, could you take a look below? Mr. MacKay is trying to locate family members of Lieutenant Julius Lewis, who was killed in action in WWII and apparently buried at B’nai Israel. I don’ thave Lieutenant Lewis on my Oxon Hill spreadsheet.

Mr.MacKay is trying to return a pen that belonged to Lieutenant Lewis to whatever family member(s) might still want it. Herbert B. Lewis is a possible connection.



Follow-up(because I am compulsive):

HerbertB(ernard) Lewis died in Florida in 1990, but it appears that he hadone son, Gerald L. Lewis. In 1990, when he signed his father’sdeath certificate, he lived in Mt. Laurel, NJ.

Herbert’s brother, Maurice K. Lewis married Edith Sear in 1942. He died in1994. I have not found a descendent.

Marlene

Sentfrom Mail forWindows 10

From: MarleneBishow
Sent: Wednesday,November 1, 2017 10:33 AM
To: LauriePfeifer
Subject: RE:Help finding Julius Lewis--B'nai Israel cemetery at OxonHill, MD

HiLaurie:

Thanks for the challenge. Unfortunately, I am not able to solve the mystery,but I have some clues.

Lt.Julius P. Lewis was a navigator on the Black Maria II, which was shotdown on January 11, 1943 over Italy.

I checked our database for B’nai Israel and I do not see a listingfor a Julius Lewis.
I checked our database of Washington Area Jewish burials and he is notthere either at another area cemetery.
I check the Jews Buried at Arlington Cemetery database and he is nott here.
I checked the JewishGen JOWBR database and no luck.
I check the National Gravesite locator and no luck there either.

Idid find a posting about the penon http://www.armyaircorps-376bg.com/julius-plewis-the-navigator-of-the-black-maria-ii.htmlJulius P.Lewis ,the navigator of the Black Maria II

OnAncestry, I found an application from 1949 for a flat headstone from the US Military (see attached) for a Julius Paul Lewis. It states that the headstone is to be placed a Bnai Israel Cemetery in Oxon Hill. The requestor is Herbert B. Lewis of Silver Spring.

From another document that I found on Ancestry, it indicates that his next of kin was his mother, Miriam Yarlick Lewis (1891-1966). She is in our B’nai Israel database, although I do not have a grave sitelocation.

From our BI database, I also found that Miriam Lewis was married to JosephLewis (1885-1960). From the database, I found that he is also buried in Oxon Hill, but I do not have a gravesite. Their sons were Herbert,Maurice and Julius.

Goodhearing from you,
Marlene


The search continues............
Don........

 

[Matteo La Boccia]

Great work!!!

 

[Mackaydon]

Matteo:'
To: Don MacKay
From:Travis Maness, Archivist; 376[SUP]th[/SUP]BG
Subject: Re:376th Bombardment Group artifact from WW II
He states: “So sorry I am just getting back with you. It has been very busy around here and I am just now responding to all my emails. Sorry to say noone was helpful at the Reunion. “


We continue the search......
Don........

 

[CaptEsteban]

I posted above that I had found contact info for the family,, BUT so far, I have been unable to reach anyone. So the search continues. The contact was " Gerald Lewis, son of Herbert Lewis, who had applied for the military marker.

 

[Mackaydon]

Capt,
I had looked into that also. The cemetery, however, said the application had not been made to them.
Those at the cemetery suggested the application may have been made to a gave stone maker, not the cemetery; and suggested I pursue that avenue.
Instead, I've opted to pursue the military.

Don....

 

[CaptEsteban]

Just an update to keep everyone posted . I am still working on this & hope we can find the family contact, soon.

 

[Matteo La Boccia]

Just an update to keep everyone posted . I am still working on this & hope we can find the family contact, soon.

OK. Many thanks again!