Quartermaster 1st Class, Stephen V. Hoschler, 1919-1951

Link to Hoschler Collection Navy USS Partridge photos

Akron Register-Tribune
February 8, 1951

STEPHEN HOSCHLER IS FIRST AKRON CASUALTY IN THE KOREAN WAR
Navy Veteran Killed When Ship Hits Mine In Korean Waters Friday

The first casualty for an Akron serviceman in the Korea War was announced when Mrs. Henrietta Hoschler, of this city was notified that her son, Stephen V. Hoschler, Quartermaster, first class, USN, had been killed when his ship, the USS Partridge, a minesweeper, had struck a mine and sunk last Friday while conducting and clearing the way for battleship Missouri, off the coast of Korea, where it has been bombarding Korean ports. Three other seamen were killed and four others are missing in the sinking of the Partridge.

Stephen V. Hoschler, son of Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Hoschler, was born here January 22, 1919. He graduated for Akron high school.  He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in November, 1941, a month before the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, and served in the Pacific and Asiatic theaters during World War II.  During the atomic bomb tests at Bikini, he served on the Flagship McKinley.  He had a service record of nine years in the Navy. A week ago Mrs. Hoschler received a letter from Stephen, in which he said things were getting plenty hot there. The young man last visited home folks here several months ago.

It is coincidence that Stephen’s cousin, Albert E. Hoschler, for whom the local Legion Post was named, was the first Akron soldier killed in World War I, in France.

Surviving Stephen, in addition to his mother, are five brothers, William of Cincinnati, O.; Leo, of Fresno, Cal.; Edward and D.K., of Ontario, Cal.; and Lowell, of Akron; and two sisters, Mrs. J. F. Cheney, of Sioux City, and Mrs. Bernard Callahan, of Elk Point.  The deep sympathy of the community goes out to these relatives in their bereavement.

A memorial mass was said at 9:00 o’clock this (Thursday) morning in St. Patrick’s Catholic church, of which the deceased seaman was a member.

Akron Register-Tribune
Thursday, August 23, 1951

Volume 65

WILL HOLD RITES FRIDAY MORNING FOR AKRON SAILOR
Stephen V. Hoschler First Akron Casualty In Korean War

Word was received the latter part of last week by Mrs. Henrietta Hoschler from the War Department at Washington that the body of her son, Stephen V. Hoschler, Quartermaster first-class, U.S.N., would arrive in Akron on Thursday afternoon of this week, accompanied by a military escort,  Stephen, the first Akron causality in the Korean conflict, met death February 2, 1951, when his ship, the USS Partridge, a mine sweeper, struck a mine and sank while convoying and clearing the way for the battleship Missouri off the Korean coast, where the famous “Big Mo” had been bombarding enemy ports.  Three other seamen were killed and several others were missing after the ship’s explosion.

Stephen V. Hoschler, son of Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Hoschler, was born here January 22, 1919.  He graduated from Akron High School. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in November, 1941, a month before the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, and served in the Pacific and Asiatic theaters during World War II.  During the atomic bomb tests at Bikini, he served on the flagship McKinley.  He had a service record of nine years in the Navy.

Surviving Stephen, in addition to his mother, are five brothers: William, of Cincinnati, O.; Leo, of Fresno, Calif.; Edward and D.K, of Ontario, Calif.; and Lowell, of Glenwood, Ia.; and two sisters, Mrs. J. F. Cheney, of Sioux City and Mrs. Bernard Callahan, of Elk Point.

When information was received here early last February of Stephen’s death, a memorial mass was said for him in St. Patrick’s Catholic church, of which he was a member, the morning of February 8.

Funeral services will be held in St. Patrick’s Catholic church this Friday morning at 9:00 o’clock, Rev. Fr. J. G. Skahill officiating.  At the burial in the Catholic cemetery, military graveside services will be conducted by Hoschler Post, No. 186, of Akron.

Pallbearers will be Gerald Voss, Harold Caskey, Jack Baker, Darrell Palmer, Herman Lucht and Wayne Stoutenburg.  Local business places will close as a mark of respect during the funeral hour, from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m.

The rosary will be recited at 8:30 o’clock this (Thursday) evening at the Hoschler home.

Tombstone at St. Patrick's Catholic Cemetery, Akron, IA

 

~Photos and information submitted by family descendant, Kim Callahan
~Newspaper research contributed by this county site coordinator, Linda Ziemann