LYNN ― City native Homer Ricker died in Belgium in 1944 when he was serving in the Army during World War II.
Little was known about Ricker’s death until about 20 years ago when his daughter, Shirley Ricker-Theis, tracked down his grave with some help from a friend and, more than 50 years after his death, Ricker-Theis found out where her father was buried and that he died from his wounds on Dec. 31, 1944.
“It was amazing and emotional to finally know more about his death,” Ricker-Theis said.
As the anniversary of her father’s death approaches, Ricker-Theis reflected on her time visiting her father’s grave 20 years ago and all of the emotions that came with it.
In 2002, Ricker-Theis got a call from her friend Robert Rhodes, who graduated a year ahead of her at Lynn English High School.
Rhodes, who had also served in the military, was working at the Library of Congress, and told Ricker-Theis that he wanted to use his resources and connections to help her find out more about what happened to her dad.
Rhodes found out that Ricker-Theis’ dad was buried at Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery in Belgium and had connections to people in that town.
After this discovery, Rhodes helped coordinate a trip for Ricker-Theis and her daughters to go to Belgium to visit the grave.
When they arrived in Belgium, Ricker-Theis was greeted by someone from the town who not only brought her to the grave, but also showed her a house in the town where her father made a speech during a Christmas party, and gave her a tour of the town where her father had spent his final days.
“Everyone in that town was so helpful and really embraced the military and their families,” Ricker-Theis said. “The people over there really appreciate what the soldiers did for them.”
Being able to spend time in a place where her father last was before he died was surreal, she said, and brought back a lot of memories of her father and her childhood.
“It sure did bring tears to my eyes,” she said.
Ricker-Theis remembers the day she found out her dad had died, even though she was only 7 years old at the time.
She and her brother were sitting at the kitchen table while her mother was cooking dinner when they heard a knock on the door.
Her mother went to answer it, and Ricker-Theis said she remembers hearing the door slam, and then her mother coming back into the kitchen and asking her to take her brother upstairs for a bath.
“Then my uncle showed up, so that was when I knew something had happened to my dad,” Ricker-Theis said.
Ricker-Theis asked her uncle if her dad had died, to which he responded with a “yes.”
From then on, her family didn’t know exactly what happened to her father, or that he had a headstone at a cemetery in Belgium.
Ricker-Theis now lives in New Hampshire but returned to Lynn a few years ago for her high-school reunion.
When she was driving around the city, she drove past the train station at Central Square, which triggered a memory of her father.
“I saw the train and then remembered one time when I was standing on that platform in the ’40s, holding my mom’s hand while she was holding my brother, waving goodbye to my dad as he left for war,” Ricker-Theis said. “That was the last time I ever saw him.”
Ricker-Theis is now turning 85, and although she said some of her memories are fading, she’ll never forget her dad or the few memories she has with him.
“At my age, it’s important to have memories like this, so I’ve been writing things down, so I don’t forget them,” Ricker-Theis said. “Then when I go back and read what I wrote, it brings me joy and happiness.”
Ricker-Theis has not returned to her father’s grave since visiting in 2002, but her brother visited it with his son afterward, and both said they are grateful to Rhodes for helping them gain some closure about their father ― and grandfather.
