Woman Finds Kalamazoo Couple’s WW II Love Letter Seeks Family
A woman discovered an old love letter in a tin of recipes he purchased and is now seeking the couple's family to return the letter.
Who doesn't love a good love story? This one starts during World War II. A Kalamazoo man wrote back to his sweetheart in 1944. The soldier, Richard Shafer, returned as promised and married his sweetheart, Maxine.
That letter, at some point, was tucked safely away in a tin with recipes. That is until Shawn Armstrong discovered the sweet letter.
I was at an antique Mall in Ft. Wayne, IN and came across a tin with Recipes in it this past Saturday. I am a sucker for old recipes and cookbooks. It was my only purchase that day, 7.99 and I was on my way. Once I got in our vehicle, I pulled out an envelope which contained the letter. I read the letter and told my husband you have to hear this.
That evening I search for Richard and found his obit and seen that he had married Maxine, who proceeded him in death.
Everyone loves a good love story, right? Anyways that 7.99 tin held something I consider priceless…. If it were my grandparents, I would definitely want this. So I decided to try to find family members. ~Shawn Armstrong
I did my own digging and discovered Richard Shafer was a graduate of Galesburg Schools and worked for Gibson Guitars for many years after returning from the war. Richard passed away several years ago but his obituary says he was survived by his two sons, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
If you are the family of Richard and Maxine Shafer, Shawn would like to make sure this sweet memento makes it back to your family. You can email me at lacy.james@townsquaremedia.com and I will gladly put you in touch with Shawn.