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ULSTER COUNTY, NY — The unclaimed ashes of a World War I veteran have found a final resting place thanks to a community determined to honor his service to our country.
Members of the Ulster County Sheriff’s Department said they were honored to assist with escorting the ashes of the World War I veteran to his final resting place at the Ulster County Veterans Cemetery in New Paltz.
John Lodge Stoneman was born in Detroit on April 18, 1895. In 1917, at the age of 22, he enlisted in the United States Army and received his honorable discharge a couple of years later. After the war, Stoneman settled in West Hurley with his wife until he died, at the age of 67, on September 6, 1962.
He was cremated and, for the next 61 years, his remains were left unclaimed at the Lasher Funeral Home in Woodstock.
In 2023, the Wiltwyck Cemetery took Stoneman’s urn into their care with the goal of ensuring a respectable resting place. Kathy Wade, a Wiltwyck Cemetery volunteer, spent countless hours researching Stoneman’s story and discovered that he served in the military. She worked to have him brought to the Ulster County Veterans Cemetery.
The Wiltwyck Cemetery gave special thanks to the Ulster County Veteran Services Agency, the Ulster County Sheriff’s Office, the Patriot Guard, the VFW and American Legion for their participation in the ceremony marking the moment a veteran was given the final resting place he deserved.