Clifford R. Tait
Location of Plaque 2015
1917 Advertisement, Cleveland Metal Products, Cleveland, OH
Clifford Ralph Tait
Birth: 2/9/1891 (as recorded on gravestone, but recorded elsewhere as 1890, 1892, and 1894), Sharon, Pennsylvania
Address: 1300 E. 17th St., Cleveland, OH
Demographics: age 26 at draft registration, stating already had 6 years experience in military; married; Caucasian; native-born; occupation Millwright at Cleveland Metal Products (previously The Cleveland Foundry Co.), 7609 Platt Ave., Cleveland, OH
Draft Date/Enlistment Date/Rank: 6/5/1917; 10/4/1917; Private
Service Number: 794700
Deployment: died prior to deployment
Action: see Service History below
Service History: 31 Co 8 Tng Bn Cp Sherman O to --; Co B 15 MG Bn to death. Pvt. Died of self-inflicted gunshot wound 3/20/1918. Notified Mrs. Catherine A. Tait, mother, 1300 E. 117th St., Cleveland, OH
Death: March 20, 1918 at age 27 at Camp Sherman, Chillicothe, OH; cause of death "Gunshot Wound (Suicide)"
Burial: 3/23/1918 at East Cleveland Township Cemetery, 1621 E. 118th St., Cleveland, OH; Lot 215, Section 10, Row 17
Next of Kin: Charles Eugene Tait (brother), 938 Nathaniel Road, Cleveland, OH
Additional Information: in 1910 family was living in Youngstown, OH; Father: Louis O. Tait, born Pennsylvania, occupation Furnace Laborer; Mother: Catharine A.M. Jarvis Tait (1868-1941); Siblings: older brother Charles Eugene Tait (1886-1927), occupation Bricklayer, who died at age 41 of a lightning strike; at age 18, Clifford R. Tait was employed as a Painting Contractor; Wife: on 5/27/1915, at age 23, Clifford married Irene Redecker, age 18, who was born in 1897 in Cleveland; no additional information located about his wife; on 1/27/1932, Mrs. Catherine A.M. Tait (mother) of 435 E. 118th St., Cleveland, OH, filled out an application for a headstone for the unmarked grave of "soldier," to be paid for by the government and delivered to the nearest railroad station; the headstone was shipped on 3/10/1932; headstone was to be engraved and placed by the family; mother Catherine died a widow on 10/6/1941, having outlived her husband and both sons.
Majestic Liberty Oak planted in memory of Clifford Tait with bronze plaque visible at the base of the tree