Evergreen Park in Cook County, Illinois — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
Gail Woodman and Roy Woodman
Photographed by Sean Flynn, June 15, 2024
1. Gail Woodman and Roy Woodman Marker
in memory of
Gail Woodman
who died of wounds
and
Roy Woodman
who died in service
and dedicated to all who served this country from this village in the great World War
1917-1918
Erected by Village of Evergreen Park.
Topics. This memorial is listed in these topic lists: Fraternal or Sororal Organizations • War, World I.
Location. 41° 43.002′ N, 87° 42.089′ W. Memorial is in Evergreen Park, Illinois, in Cook County. It is on South Kedzie Avenue 0.3 miles south of 95th Street (U.S. 12/20), on the right when traveling north. The marker is in front of the entrance to Evergreen Park's American Legion Post 854. Touch for map. Memorial is at or near this postal address: 9701 South Kedzie Avenue, Evergreen Park IL 60805, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this memorial is in Greater Chicago. It is also in the American Midwest and on the Great Lakes. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds
this page online
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Evergreen Park Veterans Memorial (a few steps from this marker); Spc. Jared D. Stanker (approx. 0.2 miles away); 1937 Allis Chalmers (approx. one mile away); St. Mary Cemetery (approx. 1.4 miles away); Hometown Veterans Memorial (approx. 1½ miles away); Veterans Memorial (approx. 1.7 miles away); William and Jessie Adams House (approx. 1.7 miles away); a different marker also named Veterans Memorial (approx. 1.7 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Evergreen Park.
More about this memorial. An artillery gun is a few steps away from the rock bearing this memorial to the the Woodmans. A large-scale veterans memorial, featuring an eternal flame and plaques devoted to men of several other wars, is across the driveway to the south.
Regarding Gail Woodman and Roy Woodman. The memorial honors two brothers from Evergreen Park, Gail and Roy Woodman, who died during World War I.
Photographed by Sean Flynn, June 15, 2024
2. Gail Woodman and Roy Woodman Marker
Evergreen Park native Roy Horatio Woodman was a private in the 132nd Infantry stationed in Camp Logan in Houston, Texas. According to his Texas death certificate, Roy was admitted to the hospital on April 25, 1918, with pneumonia, and died from the illness two days later. He was 19 years old. A brief notice in the Chicago Examiner reported that he was the 41st death "to occur of natural causes at the camp." He is buried in Mount Greenwood Cemetery in Chicago, about two miles south of this memorial in Evergreen Park.
Roy's older brother, Gail Otis Woodman, was born in 1893 and at the time of his draft registration on June 5, 1917, was living at 9348 Spaulding Avenue in Evergreen Park (about a ½-mile northwest of his memorial) and working in Chicago as a post office clerk. Military transport records say that he was sent to Europe in 1918 as a mechanic in the 132nd Infantry. A newspaper article about letters he sent to a female acquaintance (see link 1 below) reports that he was injured in the eye, neck and chest by shrapnel in September of 1918. He spent the next three months in London but succumbed to the injuries on December 3, 1918,
Photographed by Sean Flynn, June 15, 2024
3. Evergreen Park American Legion post
The Woodmans' memorial is on the rock near the shrubs by the entrance.
Also see . . .
1. "I will write to you forever" One World War I soldier's letters home. Neil Steinberg, a Chicago Sun-Times columnist, shares Gail Woodward's letters to Lucile Nelson, a young female acquaintance who lived in Chicago's Ashburn neighborhood nearby. The two corresponded until Gail's death; his final letter was sent November 30, 1918, and he died about a week later.
Excerpt: "The letters sat in a shoebox for 70 years. Lucile Nelson married three times and had two children, nine grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren. When she died in 1989, her granddaughter, Kathleen Loftus, a Columbia College lecturer, found them among her possessions."(Submitted on June 17, 2024, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.)
2. American Legion Post 854. The website for Evergreen Park's American Legion post. (Submitted on June 17, 2024, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.)
Credits. This page was last revised on June 17, 2024. It was originally submitted on June 17, 2024, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois. This page has been viewed 199 times since then and 14 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on June 17, 2024, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.
