William Charles Heineke

*No plaque located*

*The list of Liberty Row names shows that this soldier's plaque was placed at "Cedar Ave. to Cont'd (Right)."

Birth: 1/10/1893, Cleveland, OH

Address: 989 E. 74th St., Cleveland, OH

Demographics: age 24 at draft registration; single; Caucasian; native-born Clevelander; claimed draft exemption due to a physical disability and was noted to have a varicose vein in right testicle; occupation Driver at City Ice Delivery (probably City Ice and Fuel Company, purveyors of artificial ice, founded by German immigrant Peter Diemer), E. 76th St. and Dell Ave., Cleveland, OH; in 1910 Census at age 17 occupation Driver Hardware Store

Appearance: Height tall, Build medium, Eyes grey, Hair light

Draft Date/Enlistment Date/Rank: 6/5/1917; 5/28/1918; Private

Service Number: 3489675

Deployment: 7/21/1918 from New York aboard SS Canopic

Action: 24 Co 2 Inf Repl Regt Cp Cordon Ga to July1/18; 10 Co 1 Repl Regt Cp Gordon Ga to July 13/18; 2 Co July Aut Tng Regt to Aug 2018; Hq Co 59 Inf to death. Pvt. St Mihiel; Meuse-Argonne; Defense Sector. AEF July 21/18 to death. 

Death: November 18, 1918 (one week after the Armistice on November 11, 1918) at age 25; cause of death broncho-pneumonia (presumably due to the 1918 influenza epidemic)

Burial: buried at least twice in France before final burial on 8/1/1922 at St. Mihiel American Cemetery, Thiaucort, France, Plot C Row 10 Grave 18

Next of Kin: Mrs. Emma O'Hearn, mother, 989 E. 74th St., Cleveland, OH 

Additional Information: Parents married in 1887, divorced in unknown year, and each remarried. 1900 and 1910 Censuses show their children living with their grandparents. Father: Edgar Charles Heineke (1868-1919), born Cincinnati, OH, occupations Contractor and later a clerk at Halle Co. at the time of his death. (Halle Brothers Co. (1891-1982) was considered the leading department store in Cleveland, OH.) Father died on Jan 21, 1919 at age 50 of endocarditis (Editor's note: possibly of broken heart syndrome, often triggered by extreme emotions or stressful situations) two months after his son Private William C. Heineke died in France. Father buried at Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland, OH. Mother: Emma Penner/ Nicholson (maiden name uncertain) Heineke Schomer O'Hearn, born Peru City, Indiana, divorced twice, married third husband John Thomas O'Hearn in 1916, who was 16 years her junior, applied for U.S. WWI Gold Star Mothers' and Widows' Pilgrimage, but unclear if she sailed to Europe to visit her son's grave. Siblings: Gertrude Josephine Heineke ?Clapp (married name uncertain) (1888-1972), who appears to have married 5 times and had no children; Meredith Francis Heineke (1890-1958)