News: Colby (GAR & WRC markers - 2017)
Transcriber: Robert Lipprandt
bob@wiclarkcountyhistory.org
Surnames: Axtman, Decker, Kelley, LaSee, Mateer, O’Brien
----Source: The Tribune - Phonograph (Abbotsford, WI) 5/31/2017
Civil War markers get new sheen
By: Kevin O’Brien
Thanks to the efforts of a few local volunteers and businesses, some of the very
first military veterans ever buried in the Colby Memorial Cemetery have newly
refurbished grave markers honoring their service in the Civil War.
Earlier this year, Bryce Kelley of Thrivent Financial in Colby spoke to the
cemetery board about the project, which also included the work of Jim Decker at
Decker Automotive, workers at All Metal Stamping in Abbotsford and Iraq War
veteran Pat Mateer.
“It’s just a group of guys who want to respect our men and women that wore the
uniform” Kelley said. “Hopefully, by the time this is all said and done, these
will last another 40 to 50 years and someone will want to pick up the cause
then.”
When the project is finished, over 40 markers from the Gran Army of the Republic
(GAR) and the Women’s Relief Corps (WRC) will have been sandblasted and
repainted. In addition to accumulating rust, several of the markers were broken
or damaged, so some welding work was also needed.
The markers were powder-coated to extend the lifespan of the new paint jobs.
Most of them were painted black, but the bronze makers were clear-coated to let
the color show through.
A grant from Thrivent Financial paid for the sandblasting and painting to be
done at Decker Automotive, and All Metal Stamping donated staff to clean and
powder paint 20 of the markers.
Kelly said the idea for the project came when he and Decker were visiting the
grave of Jim’s brother, Robert, who was killed in the Vietnam War. They notice a
lot of the older veterans grave markers were in poor shape after years of
neglect.
While Decker and Mateer have direct connections to military service, Kelley said
he saw it as his “civic duty” to help with the project. He said the volunteers
may be willing to help refurbish more grave markers at other cemeteries in the
future.
Steve Axtman, general manager of All Meal Stamping, said the powder coating
project is just one of many ways the company has supported local veterans.
Axtman said the company also provide custom made steel and powder painted
shelving to American Legion Post 519, and worked with Loos Manufacturing in
Colby through the Yellow ribbon program or the new Persian Gulf memorial at The
Highground Veterans Memorial Park in Neillsville.
“The LaSee family, as well as our president, Ryan LaSee, supports and encourages
our efforts within the local communities through these types of donations of
time and materials as well as allowing me personally to participate in military
funeral rites during the standard work week with the American Legion Post 519 in
Stetsonville,” Axtman said.
History of the cemetery
The Grand Army of the Republic was founded in Decatur, ILL., in 1866 as a
fraternal organization of Civil War veterans who fought for the Union Army, Navy
and Marines. Civil War veterans who settled in the Colby area started the Isaac
N. Earl Post 112 in 1883. A local Women’s Relief Corps was also founded that
year.
GAR Post 112 was officially dissolved in 1938, seven years after the area’s last
remaining Civil War veteran, Albert Becherer, passed away at the age of 92.
Becherer and the other Union veterans buried in the Colby Memorial Cemetery came
to the area from a wide variety of backgrounds, including several who were born
in Europe and ended up fighting in the Civil War as newly arrived immigrants.
A registry of Civil War veterans buried at local cemeteries, maintained by the
Clark County History Buffs website, includes a wealth of information about these
veterans, including many of their obituaries from old issues of the Colby
Phonograph.
Several of these obituaries from the 1920’s include the phrase: “Another name is
stricken from the ever-lessening roll of early pioneers and Civil War veterans.”
For information about the Civil War veterans buried at local cemeteries, go to
www.wiclarkcountyhistory.org.
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