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Eric Howard Fundin

T/5 in 603rd Engineer Camouflage Bn : HQ & Service Co

ASN#33742313

Born 1909 in DE, Died 1964

Artist

County of enlistment: Ft. Myer, VA
Other residence(s): Wilmington, DE; New Haven, CT; Washington, DC; Silver Spring, MD; Bethesda, MD
United States Army, European Theatre of Operations
Occupation before the war: draftsmen
College education before the war: Drexel 2 years
Notes: Rank changed from PFC in GA roster to T/5 per gravestone
Source: Christmas 1944 photo, in Nussenbaum scrapbook; Photograph 91-14 GALP archive

Eric Fundin was born on June 11, 1909 in Wilmington, DE, the oldest of three children. His mother and all four of his grandparents had been born in Sweden.

Eric attended public schools in Wilmington and in New Haven, CT and also studied for two years at Drexel Institute of Technology in Philadelphia (now Drexel University). He found work as an architectural draftsman, working in private firms (including the offices of a Wilmington architect who did work for the DuPont family) and government agencies (which included the Air Force and the Veterans Administration).

He married nurse Agnes Angle on June 21, 1930; they would go on to have two sons, Eric and Mauritz, but the marriage was short-lived. They were separated by 1940, at which time Eric was working at the Office of the Quartermaster in the General Construction Division at Fort Myer in Arlington, VA, and living in a Washington, DC boarding house.

Eric registered for the draft on October 16, 1940 and enlisted on May 28, 1943 (six weeks after his divorce from Agnes). He became a member of the 603rd Engineer Combat Battalion and served in Europe with the unit.

He was hospitalized twice during his service—in May/June 1944 with pneumonia and in January/February 1945 with a crushed finger.

He was discharged from the Army with the rank of T/5 and went back to his work as an architectural draftsman.

On March 17, 1947 he married Noreen Lillian Mathews, and they settled in Maryland, living in Silver Spring and later in Bethesda. He was a member of Washington Centennial Lodge No. 14 of the Masons and Augustana Lutheran Church in Washington, DC.

He died on November 18, 1964 in Bethesda, and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, VA.

Sources:

1910 census

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/151677915:7884?ssrc=pt&tid=70876783&pid=190180116873

1930 census

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/5801603:6224?tid=&pid=&queryId=9357778870f6bb1ba27220e22e74e2f2&_phsrc=trC2&_phstart=successSource

1930 wedding announcement in The Evening Journal (Wilmington DE)

https://www.newspapers.com/image/154165611/?article=487cf250-b775-40c6-b64d-fe8fb7ba552f&focus=0.15653153,0.3992083,0.27735606,0.4835193&xid=3398&_ga=2.263452556.1039483845.1623027274-2124517765.1623027274

1940 census

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/640361:2442?tid=&pid=&queryId=663d280fd19f2d1bab2c3be64259f0a0&_phsrc=wst3&_phstart=successSource

1940 draft card

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/6418953:2238?tid=&pid=&queryId=3945c5918f7dfa9002a2697b29793952&_phsrc=VFb3&_phstart=successSource

1943 divorce record

https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=9280&h=1959883&tid=&pid=&queryId=3945c5918f7dfa9002a2697b29793952&usePUB=true&_phsrc=Aom1&_phstart=successSource

1943 enlistment record

https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=8939&h=5193812&tid=&pid=&queryId=4e7abf92cf43868f7c94ac843119bbbb&usePUB=true&_phsrc=lqx1&_phstart=successSource

1944 World War II hospital admission record

https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=61817&h=16110726&tid=&pid=&queryId=4e7abf92cf43868f7c94ac843119bbbb&usePUB=true&_phsrc=ZsZ3&_phstart=successSource

1945 World War II hospital admission record

https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=61817&h=5759688&tid=&pid=&queryId=4e7abf92cf43868f7c94ac843119bbbb&usePUB=true&_phsrc=ZsZ8&_phstart=successSource

1947 marriage record

https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=61404&h=310721&ssrc=pt&tid=70876783&pid=190245252987&usePUB=true

1947 father's obituary in The Morning News (Wilmington DE)

https://www.newspapers.com/image/160824973/?article=0e5995be-aa41-4298-9d69-d2e29cd6b5f4&focus=0.14312659,0.086414434,0.2617475,0.18004748&xid=3355&_ga=2.89776027.1039483845.1623027274-2124517765.1623027274

1955 city directory, Wilmington, DE

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1052530130:2469?ssrc=pt&tid=156816268&pid=162066823450

1958 city directory, Silver Spring, MD

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/856214124:2469?ssrc=pt&tid=163390144&pid=262285935427

1964 obituary in The Morning News (Wilmington DE)

https://www.newspapers.com/image/155769686/?article=8344dbbd-d1bf-4ae0-a3e5-c3c35b3d21df&focus=0.27126998,0.6012893,0.38866523,0.8481874&xid=3355&_ga=2.106402499.171824182.1622920767-1541196250.1620067581

1964 US Veterans' Gravesites

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1116482:8750?tid=&pid=&queryId=3945c5918f7dfa9002a2697b29793952&_phsrc=VFb4&_phstart=successSource

1964 Find a Grave record

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/49185531/eric-howard-fundin

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