The Union Veteran's Son Who Fixed Lucille Ball's Appliances

Hilbert J. Gramelspacher

And not just Lucille Ball's. This son of a Hoosier infantryman also fixed appliances for Jerry Lewis and Joan Crawford. I saw mention of this article (referenced in an online post by Robert Moore of Cenantua's Blog), and wanted to highlight it here.  A couple days ago I posted a link to a story on the death of a man reported to be the last actual son of a Confederate veteran. Turns out there may be as many as 13 sons of Union veterans still alive, including one man in Poplar Bluff, Missouri. I passed through Poplar Bluff -- the "Gateway to the Ozarks" -- many times in the late 70s and early 80s, going back and forth from Evansville, Indiana to my parents new home on Greers Feery Lake, Arkansas. But alas, Gramelspacher did not live there at the time.  

The family did not know much about Joseph's military service until Hilbert's 68-year-old son, Wayne, who lives near Vaughn, Miss., began "looking up family history" and contacted Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War.

"My father never talked about the Civil War," Hilbert said. He was 11 when his dad died in 1931 at the age of 83.

"He did show me his rifle," Hilbert said. "He gave it to my sister, and her children have it now.".

Full article is here.