John Hrapkoski

*Surname also spelled Hrapkowski

 Birth: 9/10/1889, ?Riken (may be Rypin, a town in north-central Poland), Poland, Russia. The handwritten name of his birthplace was difficult to read on the draft registration.

Address: 3606 E. 57th St., Cleveland, OH at time of draft registration. In the 1910 Census, John (age 24) and Charles (age 22) Hrapkowski were living as boarders at a home on E. 65th St.; their relationship is uncertain.

Demographics: age 29 at draft registration; single; Caucasian; citizenship status listed as "Alien"; occupation at draft registration Hammer Man at Cleveland Twist Drill at E. 49th St. and St. Clair Ave. (Cleveland Twist Drill Co. was founded in the 1870's and grew to be one of the largest high-speed steel toolmakers in the US); per 1910 Census occupation Sorter at Tin Works; per 1910 Census emigrated in 1905 

Appearance: Height short, Build stout, Eyes grey, Hair brown

Draft Date/Enlistment Date/Rank: 6/5/1917; 4/1/1918; Private

Service Number: 2429526

Deployment: 6/24/1918 from New York aboard HMHS Nevasa

Action: 36 Co 9 Tng Bn 158 Dep Brig to Apr 26/18; Co B 330 Inf to July 26/18; Co B 7 Inf to death. Pvt. St Mihiel; Aisne-Marne; Meuse-Argonne. AEF June 12/18 to death. 

Death: January 8, 1919 in Germany at age 30; cause of death Lobar Pneumonia (presumably due to the 1918-1920 Influenza pandemic) 

Burial: buried American Standard Cemetery, Coblenz, Germany; 6/22/1920 remains disinterred and prepared for return to U.S., arriving Antwerp, Belgium 6/26/1920; 7/3/1920 remains shipped from Antwerp to Hoboken, NJ aboard SS Princess Matoika, arriving Hoboken 7/21/1920; 8/18/1920 remains shipped from Hoboken to Cleveland, OH, arriving 8/19/1920 to the care of William Slezak, (presumed proprietor of Slezak Funeral Home ) 3652 E. 65th St., Cleveland, OH; final burial (unknown date) Calvary Cemetery, 10000 Miles Ave., Cleveland, OH, Lot 119 Section 41 Grave 1 (although no record found on Calvary Cemetery's website)

Next of Kin: Stanley Hrapkoski, brother, 3672 E. 59th St., Cleveland, OH 

Additional Information: No information was found about parents or additional family members. John and Stanley (aka Stanislaw) Hrapkoski/Hrapkowski were brothers. Stanley was born in 1887 in Russia, Poland and worked as a Molder at Grabler Foundry on Broadway Ave. He had a wife and child. He appears to have signed his WWI draft registration with an X, suggesting that he did not know how to write. It is unclear whether John and Stanley were related to Charles, as mentioned above.