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In Allentown, friends save a departed veteran from a lonesome farewell

Morning Call - 3/13/2019

March 13-- Mar. 13--Just before Christmas, Jane Kale opened the door of her Allentown home and found a gift there -- a slate rectangle painted with a blue-eyed Santa Claus in a red-trimmed white suit, holding an evergreen branch in one hand and a Bible in the other.

She didn't need to look at the signature in the lower right corner -- "W. Frey" -- to know who left it. Walter Frey, a genial 90-year-old who styled himself a Pennsylvania Dutch folk artist, lived across the street and had given her such gifts before.

He was a sweet man, according to friends, an Eagles and Phillies fan who kept abreast of politics and liked to pass the time at senior centers. He had a basement workshop where he painted, and whatever pieces he didn't give to neighbors, he sold at flea markets and craft fairs.

"A very nice guy," Kale said. "He always went out of his way to ask how I was doing, and he knew my dog was sick and would ask how he was doing."

On Feb. 20, Frey died. The neighbors hadn't seen him for a while, because his house needed repairs and he couldn't stay there. So the first anyone knew about it was two days later, when local newspapers ran a note saying the Lehigh County Coroner's Office was seeking next of kin for Walter R. Frey.

Kim Lightcap, Frey's next-door neighbor, knew the office wouldn't find any kin. Frey's wife, Gertrude, died in 2014. His only other relative, a sister-in-law in Vermont, died in January.

"I called the coroner and said, 'What's going to happen?'" Lightcap said. "They said, 'We're still trying to find next of kin.' I followed up because I found a funeral home willing to cremate him, but the courthouse said we'd have to get a lawyer involved because we weren't relatives."

This meant Frey was, more than likely, bound for a pauper's grave. But that changed when Lightcap mentioned to the coroner that Frey had been a veteran.

"If we can confirm veteran status, we can have them buried in a national [military] cemetery," said Eric Minnich, the first deputy coroner. "We do that out of respect for their service to their country, and kind of figure it's the least we can do."

Frey was, indeed, a veteran. He served in the Air Force during World War II -- it was called the Army Air Corps then -- and had been honorably discharged. That made him eligible to be buried with military honors, at no cost.

And that's what will happen -- at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery in Lebanon County.

"Over the last two years we've done about 30 [funerals] like this," said Suzie Mihalaki, a civilian program support assistant at the cemetery, speaking of the heartbreaking task of burying veterans who have no family.

Volunteers provide a color guard, rifle volley and sounding of taps. Representatives of whatever military branch the deceased served present and fold a ceremonial American flag. And members of the motorcycle-riding Patriot Guard -- founded in 2005 to shield military families from funeral protesters during the height of the Iraq War -- pay respects.

Mihalaki said most such funerals have at least 10 or 15 people in attendance.

"We kind of become their family," she said.

daniel.sheehan@mcall.com

610-820-6598

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