MOVILLE YOUTH REPORTED DEAD
Gerald Sparks Died in Japanese Prisoner Camp in 1942
Moville, Ia.—Special: Mr. and Mrs. Frank Sparks received official notice that their son Gerald had died from malaria in a Japanese prison camp July 31, 1942.
The Sparks family had been notified May 22, 1942, that their son was missing action since May 7, of that year, following the fall of Corregidor. This was the last word that they had received concerning him. The War Department had never changed his status and the family retained hopes that he might someday be found alive.
Gerald was born in Moville December 21, 1918. He attended the Moville schools and later worked on local farms. He spent one summer in Colorado. In December, 1939, he enlisted in the Army, requesting foreign service. He was sent immediately to Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. After being stationed there for 18 months, he transferred to the air corps engineers in order that he might volunteer for the Nichols field air base near Manila. He was at the later station at the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The last letter received from him by his parents was November 7, of that year.
A brother, Sgt. Ivan Sparks, is now stationed in the ordinance division on Luzon. Another brother, Cpl. Dale Sparks, is in England, and Jay, radioman second class, is on Guam. There are two other brothers, Marion of Fremont, Neb., and Burton at home, and three sisters, Mrs. Don Gardner, Mildred and Leone, all at home at present.
Source: The Sioux City Journal, August 8, 1945
BIO
Ivan Edwin Sparks was born to Francis and Bessie Sparks, in Anthon, on 4 December 1917. Ivan attended Wolf Creek Township Country School and Moville High School, enjoyed sports and baseball and football in school. His siblings are Marion, Gerald, Dale, Helen, Burton, Jay and Leone. All the brothers served in World War II.
Ivan enlisted in the U.S Army in January 1942. He trained at Fort Leonardwood, Missouri. Additional training was at Fort Lewis, Washington. He was sent to New Guinea in 1943, then on to the Philippines, as well as the Occupation of Japan. He visited his brother, Gerald’s, grave at Cabanatuan Cemetery in the Philipines in 1945.
Ivan was Operating Engineer for Booth and Olson Construction from 1940 to 1969. From 1969 to 1982, he was employed by Chris Hanson Construction Company. He retired in December 1982.
Ivan married Eileen G. Middleton, 17 June 1950, in Sioux City. They have a son, John.
Ivan belongs to Wink-Sparks Post No. 303 in Moville. Ivan died 3 March 2002, in Sioux City.
Link to Ivan Edwin Sparks Honorable Discharge
Ivan Edwin Sparks is buried in Memorial Park Cemetery, Sioux City, IA.
Source: ancestry.com
