George Wellington Pfitsch Jr.

*No plaque located*

*The List of Liberty Row Names indicates the possible original location of the plaque*

Birth: 1/1/1895, Cleveland, Ohio

Address: 2580 E. 59th St., Cleveland, OH

Demographics: age 22 at draft registration; single; Caucasian; native-born Clevelander, occupation at draft registration Railroad Switchman at New York Central Railroad, Cleveland, OH; occupation in 1910 at age 15 was Clerk in Department Store; claimed exemption due to "Pyles," [possibly either a misspelling of piles/hemorrhoids or Pyle Disease, a rare bone disorder causing widening and fragility of the bones].

Appearance: Height tall, Build stout, Eyes blue, Hair brown

Draft Date/Enlistment Date/Rank: 6/5/1917; 5/26/1918; Private

Service Number: 2660138

Deployment: 7/22/1918 from Brooklyn, NY aboard HMAT Nevasa

Action: 32 Co 8 Tng Bn 3 Inf Repl Regt Cp Gordon Ga to July 9/18; 30 Co 8 Bn 3 Repl Regt to July 15/18; 8 Co 1 Inf Tng Regt to Aug 18/18; Co E 47 Inf to death. Pvt. St Mihiel; Meuse-Argonne; Defensive Sector. AEF July 22/18 to Sept 24/18.

Death: September 24, 1918 at age 23; cause of death Killed in Action

Burial: buried locally after death in Esnes, Meuse, France in a French Military Cemetery; 4/25/1919 remains disinterred and reburied at Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, Meuse, France; 7/13/1921 remains disinterred and prepared for return to U.S. arriving Antwerp, Belgium 7/18/1921; 8/6/1921 remains shipped from Antwerp to Hoboken, NJ aboard USAT Wheaton arriving Hoboken 8/20/1921; 9/14/1921 remains shipped from Hoboken to Cleveland, OH arriving 9/16/1921 to the care of Mrs. Nettie Pfitsch, mother, 2125 Van Place, Cleveland, OH; final burial 9/20/1921 at Woodland Cemetery, 6901 Woodland Ave., Cleveland, OH, Lot 316 Section 90 Grave NE Corner

Next of Kin: Mrs. Nettie Pfitsch, mother, 2123 Van Place, Cleveland, OH; alternate address 2580 E. 59th St., Cleveland, OH 

Additional Information:

Middle name Wellington came from his maternal grandfather, a musician per 1905 NY Census, whose name was Wellington Spencer.

In 1941, Private Pfitsch's sister Marie Mathos applied for a government-issued unmarked granite headstone for her deceased brother, which was to be provided at government expense.

Father: George Jacob Pfitsch Sr. (1869-1947), born Germany, occupations Day Laborer, Machinist and Railroad Foreman, remarried Amy Pfitsch after the death of his first wife; died by suicide (asphyxiation by hanging) at home at age 78, buried Oak Park Cemetery, New Castle, PA; Mother: Nettie Spencer Pfitsch (1869-1933), born Fowlersville, NY, buried in an unmarked grave at Woodland Cemetery, Cleveland, OH alongside her son Private George Wellington Pfitsch Jr.; Siblings: Frances Pfitsch Wollner (1896-1921), who died at age 25 and is buried at Woodland Cemetery in an unmarked grave alongside her mother and brother Private George Wellington Pfitsch Jr.; Eleanor C. Pfitsch Arata (1903-1994); Marie Iola Pfitsch Mathos (1907-1991). Sibling list may be incomplete.

References