Individual Details

The Spencer Reporter
Spencer, Iowa
Wed., Sep. 25, 1918
Page 1, Column 4
VANDEMARK IS KILLED IN ACTION
SUMMIT TOWNSHIP MAN GIVES UP HIS LIFE ON BATTLEFIELD IN FRANCE
WAS SHOT IN HEAD IN MARCH
Enlisted in Co. E—Member of Rainbow Division—Married in Spencer in August Last Year.

Ernest S. Vandermark, son of Mr. and Mrs. G. S. Vandermark of Summit township was killed in action in France on July 26th according to an official message from the adjutant general's office at Washington received via Sioux City Friday night by Ernest Vandermark's parents. He was a member of the 168th Infantry, the Rainbow Division, and enlisted with a score of other Clay county boys in "'E" Company of Sheldon. He enlisted on May 30, 1917.
On March 12th of the present year he was wounded in action in France — a sniper's bullet striking him in the head. After a few weeks in the hospital he was able to return to his company and to the trenches again.
The last letter from him received by home folks was written on July 5th.

Lived in Summit Township
Ernest S. Vandermark was born in Summit township, Clay county on April 7, 1896. He lived in Summit township all his life up to the time he joined Company "E" of Sheldon a year ago last May. He attended the high school at Everly a part of one winter, and the Spencer high school a part of two years. He was a member of the Evangelical church of Summit township.
On August 19, 1917, two months and a half after he joined the colors, he was united in marriage to Miss Emma Fowler of Spencer. The ceremony taking place at the home of the bride's mother, Mrs. W. G. Sherman, on West Fourth street. Mrs. Vandermark, during the absence of her husband, has been employed at the factory of the Litt Cutlery Co. in Spencer.

Overseas in November
Vandermark went to Des Moines on August 20, 1917, where he was transferred into the 168th Infantry. His company was sent to New York in September of last year and in November he was sent overseas.
Besides his wife and his parents, he is survived by three brothers and six sisters and an aged grandmother, Mrs. Viola Clark, together with numerous other relatives.
Mrs. Ernest Vandermark and her step-father, W. G. Sherman, returned to Spencer Friday afternoon from Sioux Falls, S. D., where they went the Saturday before to visit Mr. Sherman's son, Corp. Emery Sherman, who was home from Camp McArthur, Texas, on leave of absence. 

Birth	7 Apr 1896	Summit, Clay County, Iowa
Census (family)-shared	12 Jun 1900	(George Steven Vandermark and Ethel Viola Clark) Summit, Clay County, Iowa
Census (family)-shared	27 Apr 1910	(George Steven Vandermark and Ethel Viola Clark) Summit, Clay County, Iowa
Marriage	19 Aug 1917	Summit, Clay County, Iowa - Emma Rhada Fowler
Death	26 Jul 1918	France
Burial		Oise-Aisne American Cemetery and Memorial, Fere-en-Tardenois, Departement de l'Aisne, Picardie, France

Spouse

Emma Rhada Fowler (1898 - 1996)

Father	George Steven Vandermark (1862 - 1926)
Mother	Ethel Viola Clark (1875 - 1950)
Sibling	George Vandermark (1894 - )
Sibling	Iva Fay Vandermark (1898 - 1975)
Sibling	Walter Jay Vandermark (1900 - 1949)
Sibling	Flora Belle Vandermark (1902 - 1934)
Sibling	Della May Vandermark (1902 - 1903)
Sibling	Ruth Ethel Vandermark (1904 - )
Sibling	Edna Viola Vandermark (1906 - )
Sibling	Vern Victor Vandermark (1909 - 1984)
Sibling	Mina Hazel Vandermark (1911 - )
Sibling	Verna Lois Vandermark (1915 - )
Sibling	Clare Cecil Vandermark (1918 - 2002)

Notes