{"id":1517,"date":"2026-10-31T17:29:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-31T17:29:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/?page_id=1517"},"modified":"2026-10-31T17:29:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T17:29:08","slug":"kunkel-family-wartime","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/?page_id=1517","title":{"rendered":"Kunkel family gatherings and wartime reports"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<style>.family-topic-breadcrumb{font-size:.95rem;margin:0 0 22px}.family-topic-intro{max-width:68ch;line-height:1.7}.family-topic-menu{display:grid;grid-template-columns:repeat(2,minmax(0,1fr));gap:14px;margin:26px 0}.family-topic-menu a{display:block;padding:18px;border:1px solid #c9cec8;border-radius:4px;background:#f5f2e9;text-decoration:none;color:#293d30;min-height:52px}.family-topic-menu strong{display:block;font-size:1.1rem}.family-topic-menu span{display:block;margin-top:6px;color:#4f574e;line-height:1.55;font-size:.95rem}.family-topic-related{border-top:1px solid #d8d2c5;margin-top:32px;padding-top:18px}.family-topic-related a{display:inline-block;margin:6px 22px 6px 0}.family-topic-breadcrumb a:focus-visible,.family-topic-menu a:focus-visible,.family-topic-related a:focus-visible{outline:3px solid #98513b;outline-offset:4px}.wp-block-post-content:has(.family-topic-breadcrumb){max-width:960px;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto}.wp-block-post-content:has(.family-topic-breadcrumb)>p{line-height:1.7}.wp-block-post-content:has(.family-topic-breadcrumb) :is(h2,h3){scroll-margin-top:24px}.wp-block-post-content:has(.family-topic-breadcrumb) a{overflow-wrap:anywhere}@media(max-width:600px){.family-topic-menu{grid-template-columns:1fr}.family-topic-menu a{padding:16px}}<\/style>\n<nav class=\"family-topic-breadcrumb\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/\">Home<\/a> \u203a <a href=\"https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/?page_id=13\">Kunkel family<\/a> \u203a Kunkel family gatherings and wartime reports<\/nav>\n<p class=\"family-topic-intro\">Anna Hagen\u2019s birthday, two weddings, and the Kunkel brothers\u2019 wartime accounts, with their conflicting details retained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<section id=\"approved-newspaper-additions\"><section id=\"kunkel-newspaper-stories\">\n  <h2>Family life in the newspapers<\/h2>\n  <p>In July 1946, Ignatius Kunkel and his family welcomed about forty guests for Anna Hagen\u2019s seventy-fourth birthday. The report identifies Anna as Mrs. Ignatius Kunkel\u2019s mother, without giving her daughter\u2019s first name. Relatives and friends came from several Missouri communities. <small>Source: <cite>Salisbury Press-Spectator<\/cite>, July 12, 1946, page 1, \u201cBirthday Dinner at Ignatius Kunkel Home\u201d; clipping preserved in the family collection.<\/small><\/p>\n  <p>Two wedding accounts add names and relationships within Ignatius Kunkel\u2019s household. His youngest daughter, Kathleen, married Leo Fessler, son of Mr. and Mrs. Tony Fessler, at St. Mary\u2019s Church on April 22, 1947. Her brothers LeRoy, John and Norman took part in the wedding. Four years later, John, described as Ignatius\u2019s eldest son, married Elsie Wolfskill, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John O. Wolfskill, at St. Bonaventure Catholic Church in Marceline on August 25, 1951. These accounts concern the younger John; they do not identify him with John of the 1877 marriage. <small>Sources: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newspapers.com\/image\/1362220722\/\"><cite>Salisbury Press-Spectator<\/cite>, May 2, 1947, page 1<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newspapers.com\/image\/1362626118\/\">August 31, 1951, page 1<\/a>.<\/small><\/p>\n  <h3>The Kunkel brothers during World War II<\/h3>\n  <p>A January 1944 notice describes twins Ernest J. and Clarence T. Kunkel visiting their parents, Mr. and Mrs. Fidelus Kunkel, and their sister Dorothy at home. It also reports news from another son, Alvin F., serving in the South Pacific. That December, the <cite>Chariton Courier<\/cite> printed portraits of the three brothers: Clarence and Alvin in the Navy and Ernest in the Army. <small>Sources: <cite>Salisbury Press-Spectator<\/cite>, January 28, 1944, page 1, \u201cKunkel Boys Spend Furlough at Home,\u201d family clipping; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newspapers.com\/image\/1363781301\/\"><cite>Chariton Courier<\/cite>, Sumner Edition, December 29, 1944, page 1, \u201cThe Kunkel Brothers.\u201d<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n  <p>The June 29, 1945 <cite>Press-Spectator<\/cite> brought news of Alvin\u2019s death after a fire aboard the USS <i>South Dakota<\/i>. The article reports that he died on May 6 and was buried at sea that evening. It includes letters received by his parents describing his care and burial. <small>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newspapers.com\/image\/1362106221\/\"><cite>Salisbury Press-Spectator<\/cite>, June 29, 1945, page 1, \u201cAlvin F. Kunkel Was Buried at Sea on Sunday, May 6.\u201d<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n  <p>Ernest\u2019s return to civilian life appears in a January 1950 announcement of his candidacy for re-election as Chariton County Circuit Clerk and Ex-Officio Recorder of Deeds. The announcement recalls his wartime wounds and hospitalization and says he was married and living in Salisbury. This notice records his candidacy, not the election result. <small>Source: <cite>The Brunswicker<\/cite>, January 5, 1950, page 7, \u201cErnest J. Kunkel Seeks Re-Election as Circuit Clerk\u201d; family clipping.<\/small><\/p>\n  <details>\n    <summary>Unresolved details in the wartime reports<\/summary>\n    <p>These are newspaper accounts, not independently checked military service files. The December 1944 <cite>Courier<\/cite> says Ernest lost his left foot; Alvin\u2019s June 1945 obituary says his right foot. Those same articles give Alvin\u2019s Navy induction as August 8 and August 7, 1943, respectively. A January 12, 1945 <cite>Press-Spectator<\/cite> report calls Ernest \u201cSgt.\u201d in its headline and \u201cCpl.\u201d in the body. The conflicting details remain unresolved. The January article is preserved as a family clipping, page 1, \u201cSgt. Ernest J. Kunkel Returns From Overseas.\u201d<\/p>\n  <\/details>\n<\/section><\/section>\n\n\n\n<nav class=\"family-topic-related\" aria-label=\"Related pages\"><a href=\"https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/?page_id=13\">\u2190 Kunkel family<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/?page_id=1516\">Kunkel stories: choose a topic<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/?page_id=1519\">Kunkel newspaper milestones<\/a><\/nav>\n\n\n<script>(function(){function revealTopicTarget(){var name;try{name=decodeURIComponent(window.location.hash.slice(1));}catch(e){return;}if(!name){return;}var target=document.getElementById(name);if(!target){return;}var node=target.parentElement;while(node){if(node.tagName==='DETAILS'){node.open=true;}node=node.parentElement;}}revealTopicTarget();window.addEventListener('hashchange',revealTopicTarget);})();<\/script>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home \u203a Kunkel family \u203a Kunkel family gatherings and wartime reports Anna Hagen\u2019s birthday, two weddings, and the Kunkel brothers\u2019 wartime accounts, with their conflicting details retained. Family life in the newspapers In July 1946, Ignatius Kunkel and his family welcomed about forty guests for Anna Hagen\u2019s seventy-fourth birthday. The report identifies Anna as Mrs. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":13,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1517","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1517"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1517\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1649,"href":"https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1517\/revisions\/1649"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}