William "Willie" and "Bill" Adolph Hirzel

*Plaque not located*

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

*Brother Otto M. Hirzel also served in World War I and was honorably discharged on 12/16/1918. He was a Chemist at a Paint Factory, married, and lived to age 73.

Birth: 2/5/1895, Cleveland, OH

Address: 6204 Denison Ave., Cleveland, OH

Demographics: married; Caucasian; native-born Clevelander; occupation in 1910 at age 18 was "Delivery Department;" occupation Electrician at time of marriage in 1917

Appearance: draft registration card, with its information about appearance, was not found

Draft Date/Enlistment Date/Rank: draft date unknown; enlistment date 5/25/1918; Private

Service Number: 2658127

Marriage: William A. Hirzel, age 22, married Lillian Kruse (1898-1965), age 19, on 12/1/1917. He deployed to war in Europe 6 months later on 6/21/1918. Two months after his deployment, on 8/27/1918, Lillian Hirzel, age 20, suffered the stillborn birth of their daughter. One month later, on September 28, 1918, her husband died and was buried in her parents' burial plot at West Park Cemetery. She lived with her parents until she remarried in 1921 to William Hitzler, with whom she had a daughter. 

Deployment: 6/21/1918 from New York aboard SS Canopic

Action: 15 Co 2 Inf Repl Regt to July 12/18; 15 Co July Aut Repl Regt to Aug 15/18; Co E 26 Inf to death. Pvt. Defensive Sector. AEF July 21/18 to death. Cited in GO 1 Div Jan 1/20

Death: September 28, 1918 (~6 weeks before Armistice Day on November 11, 1918 at age 23; cause of death Died of Disease: Lobar Pneumonia (presumably due to the 1918 influenza epidemic)

Burial: 9/28/1918 at American Cemetery, Allerey, Saone-et-Loire, France; 11/20/1920 remains disinterred and prepared for return to the U.S. arriving Bordeaux, France 12/4/1920; 1/24/1920 remains shipped from Bordeaux to Hoboken, NJ aboard SS Wheaton arriving Hoboken 2/10/1921; 2/16/1921 remains shipped from Hoboken to Cleveland, OH arriving 2/17/1921 to the care of Mrs. Lillian K. Hirzel, wife, 3488 W. 52nd St., Cleveland, OH; final burial on 2/19/1921 at West Park Cemetery, 3942 Ridge Rd., Cleveland, OH, Lot 296 Section 22 Grave 1 So. He was buried in his wife's parents' burial plot.

Next of Kin: Lillian K. Hirzel, wife, 3488 W. 52nd St., Cleveland, OH

Additional Information: 

Father: Friedrich Albert Hirzel (1861-1935), born Germany, emigrated 1880, occupation Cooper in a Saloon; Mother: Rosina Katharina "Katie" Ruess Hirzel (1865-1914), born Wurttemberg, Germany, emigrated 1883, had 7 children 

Siblings: