Family recalls Keystone soldier from World War II; remains returning home

Before he was lost in the war, Marvin Steinford was a great uncle.

“I worshipped him, because he was a young guy,” said Evelyn Fuller. “He was just lots of fun.”

“He loved children,” said Shirley Moody. “He was very nice to us, and you remember people like that when you're a child.”

Fuller, 76, of Ames, and Moody, 73, of Dubuque, are nieces of Steinford, who was 22 when his B-17 bomber was shot down during a World War II mission over Hungary. The Defense Department announced Tuesday that remains identified as Steinford's discovered in a grave in the city of Zirc were being returned to the United States.

“I was shocked, because I had not heard anything,” said Shirley Jurgens, 69, of Marion. another niece.

All three women, and two others, are the daughters of the late Clarence Steinford, Marvin's older brother. They said they lost touch with Rosella, Marvin's widow, after she remarried and moved away, and with Carol, Marvin and Rosella Steinford's daughter.

But the family often talked about their missing brother, son, and uncle.

“He was in our words all the time,” said Jurgens, just 5 when her uncle was lost. “When we had family gatherings when his mother was still alive, we'd talk about Marvin.”

“I remember when he was sent over, and I remember when the baby was born,” said Fuller. “We have lost track of her - I don't know if she's still alive.”

There's some debate within the family over whether Marvin ever saw his daughter, or if she was born after his final trip overseas. Surviving family members also can't recall whether Marvin worked before joining the service, or whether he enlisted right out of high school.

“I think he was young enough, maybe he helped out on the farm,” said Fuller. “He might have really gone in (after) high school.”

The remains identified through dental records as Marvin Steinford's have been turned over to the U.S. government. They'll be shipped to the U.S. military's Hawaii-based Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command in Hawaii for final positive identification.

Uncle Marvin's nieces hope the military will keep them informed what happens after that.

“We know none of that,” said Jurgens. “We would love to know, being he was part of the family.”

Marvin Steinford's name is included on a monument to local World War II veterans at the Keystone cemetery where his mother is buried.