In Memory of Army Private First Class
Paul Edward Tracy
January 25, 1911 –
January 1, 1945
Killed in action in
Belgium
Paul Tracy was born to Bridget and Henry Tracy in
Presho, South Dakota, January 25, 1911. Paul lived
with his parents and three sisters, Clare, Frances,
and Blanche, on a farm south of Presho, where Bridget
was postmistress for the Sweeney Post Office. While
threshing hay, Henry Tracy was struck and killed by
lightning, after which the family moved to Kennebec in
Lyman County. The Tracy children all graduated from
Kennebec High School.
After graduation, Paul opened a barbershop in
Kennebec. On July 9, 1941, he married Madeline Helen
Furlong. The couple moved to Mitchell and then to
Canistota where they had a daughter, Madeline Agnes,
born July 21, 1942. Four days later, on July 25,
Madeline died, leaving behind her husband and their
daughter, Madeline Agnes. Paul then returned to
Kennebec, where his mother, Bridget, took over the
care of Madeline Agnes.
Paul E. Tracy entered the service on October 27,
1942. After a couple of years in training in
America,
Private Paul Tracy was sent to the European
theater with the 60th Armed Infantry. Tracy
served overseas for about a year before his death on
January 1, 1945, killed in action in Belgium.
Paul was buried with full military honors in a
military cemetery in Luxembourg. In 1948, his remains
were returned to the United States and reburied in the
Catholic Cemetery at Kennebec. Tracy was posthumously
awarded the Purple Heart and the American Legion’s
Gold Star Citation.
This entry was
respectfully submitted by Meghan Byrum, 8th
Grade West, Spearfish Middle School, Spearfish, South
Dakota,
November 22, 2000.
Information for this entry was provided by Madeline
Tracy Louder, Bettendorf, Iowa, daughter of Paul Tracy,
and assisted by
Nita Schelske of Reliance, SD.