John Edward Lathrop, son of Edgar and Anna (Materna) Lathrop, was born in Claremont, Illinois, December 1, 1917, departed this life at the England General Army Hospital, Atlantic, City, New Jersey, Monday morning, March 27, 1944 at the age of 26 years, 3 months and 26 days. He had been returned to the United States for hospitalization for a stomach ailment.

He enlisted in the United States Army February 26, 1941, holding the rank of Staff Sergeant at the time of his death. He served one year of these thirty-seven months overseas.

He was baptized into the Trinity Lutheran Church in Memphis, Tennessee. He was a graduate of the Olney Township high school, attended Eastern Illinois State Teacher's College and taught schools in Richland County.

He is survived by his parents, Edgar and Anna Lathrop, five brothers, William of Calhoun, Roy and Arthur of Claremont, Carl of Berkeley, California and Fred at the home; two sisters-- Lucille at the home and Dorothy of Detroit, Michigan; also an aged grandmother, Mrs. Lavina Lathrop, four nieces and three nephews, and a host of other relatives and friends.

Funeral services held in the Claremont Methodist Church with burial in Amity Cemetery, Richland Co. Illinois.

The Decatur Herald (Decatur, IL) – Friday, March 31, 1944 and an Olney area newspaper