WWII airman's remains coming home to Iowa

Marvin Steinford's survivors haven't forgotten him.

“You wonder for years and years whatever happened to him,” said Sharon Jurgens. “This is a final (end) to it.”

Memorial services for Steinford, lost on a March 1945 bombing mission over Hungary, will be June 21 at Christ Episcopal Church in northeast Cedar Rapids. Jurgens, 71, of Marion, said she and her sisters plan to attend services for their favorite uncle.

Raised in Keystone, Steinford was 22 when he was lost after bailing out of his B-17 bomber after it was damaged by German anti-aircraft fire. The plane went down between German and Soviet lines near the city of Zirc.

According to Iowa National Guard Col. Greg Hapgood, Steinford's remains were discovered in 2004 as workers were moving a Soviet war memorial grave site. Among the Soviet-style coffins was a dissimilar wooden coffin, and inside were remains and Steinford's identification tags.

After years of negotiations between American, Hungarian, and Russian officials,  exhumation began in 2009. Steinford's remains were officially identified last fall.

Jurgens' father was Clarence Steinford, Marvin's younger brother.

“My dad would dearly love to know they found him, but he died years ago,” said Jurgens.

Marvin Steinford's wife Rosella Behrends died soon after his remains were recovered, Jurgens said. His daughter Carol Ann Sansenbach lives in Cedar Rapids. He is also survived by four grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren, a step-great-grandchild, and several cousins, according to Hapgood.

Carol Sansenbach said this afternoon she didn't want to comment until after the memorial service.

Marvin Steinford enlisted in the Army Air Corps in October 1942 and was deployed overseas in December 1944.