FARMINGDALE, NY — A Massachusetts man believes he is the first relative to visit the grave of Joseph Wolvernez, a former sergeant who died in World War II.
Frank Durant, 46, of Norton, visited his granduncle’s grave at Long Island National Cemetery in Farmingdale on Saturday and Sunday.
Wolvernez was born May 15, 1909, and died on Nov. 21, 1944 — weeks before the Battle of the Bulge began. His family says Wolvernez was killed by friendly fire.
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“He gave his life for his country. “He was a soldier,” Durant told Patch. “When he lost his life, he was with his fellow soldiers. If what we found was the truth on how he died, then he died while in service to his country, whether it be in battle or not.”
Wolvernez was born to Albert and Bertha Wolowicz — he changed his name to Wolvernez when he enlisted at the age of 18, Durant said.
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Durant said he was motivated to find Wolvernez’s gravesite after reaching out to his many cousins through Ancestry.com. He said he heard stories of Wolvernez from his grandmother and great aunts while growing up.
“It was very basic. ‘He died during the Battle of the Bulge. He was a giant of a man.’ They all thought I looked like him. That was it,” Durant said. “They all assumed he was buried where he died in Europe.”
Several of the anecdotes about Wolvernez turned out to be false, Durant said.
“I found out he was only 5 feet 10 inches like me, so he wasn’t a giant of a man, and I still don’t think I look anything like him,” Durant said. “He died weeks before the Battle of the Bulge even broke out.”
Most of Durant’s family believed Wolvernez was buried in Belgium, where he was killed in action. Durant did not know he was buried a few states away.
“All this has made me steadfast to visit his grave in Farmingdale,” he said. “Sadly, I do not know if he had any visitors since nobody in the family knew where he was buried while most assumed he was in Europe. I feel he deserves at least one visitor from a family member even though he died almost 80 years ago.”
When Wolvernez died, some of his possessions recovered included the book “Sammy Kaye’s Sunday Serenade: Book of Poetry,” a dictionary, photographs, a diary, a tobacco pouch, two pipes, a pistol expert badge, a rifle expert badge, three service ribbons (Good Conduct, American Defense and American Campaign) and a leather wallet, according to a document shared with Patch by Michael Reynolds, a cousin of Durant’s.
Durant spoke with Reynolds and realized he had never heard the name “Wolvernez” while growing up. He and his cousins discovered Wolvernez was buried in Farmingdale in 1947 and was given an honor guard ceremony at his funeral, as all soldiers buried in the cemetery receive.
Durant then heard that neither Wolvernez’s parents or siblings traveled to Long island in 1947, as it was a couple of years after the war ended. Albert and Bertha were ailing — Bertha had battled leukemia for 10 years before dying in 1952, Durant said. Albert was elderly, as well.
“Sadly, I would say, the parents never made it to their son’s grave,” Durant said. “When it comes to the other siblings, I knew about half of them, none of them have said the name Wolvernez or that he’s buried in Long Island. It was a big mystery that I felt obligated to finally get some closure … I truly feel with the paperwork that we have and the stories that we never heard, I assume I was probably the first family member to visit him in Farmingdale this weekend.”
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Durant, despite having visited Arlington National Cemetery, said he was shocked at how large Long Island National Cemetery is. It was difficult to find Wolvernez’s gravesite, he said.
“Literally when I was going down there, the first thing I said was, ‘I found ya, uncle,'” he said. “I felt it was like, ‘I finally found you. It’s real. The stories now actually have substance.’ At the same time, looking around, he’s surrounded by his band of brothers, all from different states, nationalities and creeds. For the majority of his life, he was a soldier. His mother did the right thing and said he should be buried here in America. He was the first of the Polish American kids.”
Wolvernez’s tombstone lists him as from Massachusetts, which is where he was originally from, Durant said. He said Albert and Bertha moved several times during the first 18 years of Wolvernez’s 35-year life. They had lived in Western Massachusetts, Central Eastern Massachusetts, Northern Connecticut, Eastern Connecticut, and finally, in Central Falls, Rhode Island, according to Durant.
“Technically, I think they got [the tombstone] right that, for the majority of his life, he was living in and went to grammar school in Massachusetts,” Durant said.
Rhode Island Veterans Memorial did not open in Exeter until 1974.
A letter signed by Wolvernez’s father, Albert, supplied to Patch by Reynolds, requested that his son be interned at Long Island National Cemetery with military honors and religious services. He asked for the funeral date and time so he could attend, but because of his wife’s ailing health and his old age, Durant believes Albert was unable to attend his son’s funeral.
Wolvernez has someone from Pennsylvania buried next to him, and someone from Alabama is nearby, Durant said. People from all walks of life; buried 20 feet from Wolvernez.
“[Wolvernez] is one story of over 1,000 people buried there, and they all have a story to tell, as well,” Durant said.
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