A.Vandan

Alfred John Vandas, Jr. 

(surname misspelled on the plaque)

Birth: 4/8/1897, Cleveland, OH 

Address: 3165 E. 45th St., Cleveland, OH

Demographics: age 21 at draft registration; native-born Clevelander; single; Caucasian; employed at McKinney Steel Co. at 4002 Dille Ave., Cleveland, OH (previously Corrigan-McKinney Steel Co., once one of the outstanding steel companies in America, established in 1890, strategically located along the Cuyahoga River, and acquired by Republic Steel in 1935); his place of employment was a 10 minute walk from his home

Appearance: Height medium; Build medium; Eyes light brown; Hair black

Draft Date/Enlistment Date/Rank: 6/5/1918; enlisted 9/5/1918; Private

Service Number: 3861671

Deployment: Died prior to deployment

Action: 15 Co 4 Tng Bn 158 Dep Brig to death. Pvt. Died of broncho-pneumonia Oct 12/18 

Death: Died at Camp Sherman, Chillicothe, OH, on October 12, 1918 at age 21 of broncho-pneumonia (common term at that time for influenza; presumably a victim of the 1918-1920 influenza pandemic)

Burial: Harvard Grove Cemetery, 6100 Lansing Ave., Cleveland, OH, Section 11, Lot 5 N 1/2, Tier 1, Grave 3W; no grave photo available online; no gravestone found during visit to cemetery in 2023 

Next of Kin: Fannie Vandas, mother, 3165 E. 45th St., SE., Cleveland, OH 

Additional Information: Grandparents were from Czech Republic on father's side and Germany on mother's side; Alfred J. Vandas, Jr. appears to have been an only child; Father: Alfred John Vandas, Sr. (1874-1921), born Cleveland, OH, occupation Tinsmith at Parrish and Bingham Company at Madison Ave. and W. 106th St., Cleveland, OH; father was drafted for World War I on 9/12/1918, exactly 2 months after his son died at Camp Sherman, but does not appear to have served; father died 1921 at age 47; Mother: Fannie Haessler Vandas (1876-1942) remarried in 1924 to Peter Celich; mother Fannie Celich was buried in Harvard Grove Cemetery alongside her first husband, her only child and her first husband's parents; more than 123,000 World War I officers and enlisted men trained at Camp Sherman in Chillicothe, OH in 1917-1918; Camp Sherman had the highest influenza death rate of any military installation with 7,618 soldiers admitted to the hospital and 842 deaths; 125 soldiers died at Camp Sherman on 10/8/1918 on the camp's deadliest day