Sunday, November 30, 2014
YOUNGSTOWN
A unique Christmas present is awaiting family members of Canadian-born John B. and Dora McKay Stapleton, if descendents can be found.
The Stapletons and several of their children immigrated to the United States in 1924 and are believed to have eventually come to the Youngstown area because John and Dora and their son James are buried in Tod Homestead Cemetery on Belmont Avenue.
Also, a daughter, Sue C. Stapleton, is listed as having lived on East Florida Avenue, and Dora’s brother, Edward D. McKay, also is believed to have lived here.
The potential Christmas present is three World War I medals — the British War Medal, Victory Medal, and 1914-15 Bronze Star — that John was awarded while serving in the 40th and 80th battalions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force attached to the British Army during World War I.
One hundred years later, the medals surfaced in the Stapletons’ home province of Nova Scotia, and Canadian Air Force veteran Joseph Maurice “Moe” MacIsaac of Marion Bridge, Nova Scotia, strongly believes they should be with direct descendents of John and Dora Stapleton.
Stapleton’s medals, which have his full name and rank (Pte. private) on the back, came into MacIsaac’s possession as a result of his hobby of buying and selling items at yard sales and flea markets.
In talking with a woman, she said she found the WWI medals in a thrift shop under a plate she was eyeing.
When he saw the medals, MacIsaac said he knew they were real and in good condition, indicating they had been looked after until recently.
He acquired the medals for a $20 donation and determined to give them back to whoever owns them. He said Stapleton’s name is on several monuments in the area, and he located the graves of Stapleton’s parents but couldn’t get any further in Nova Scotia.
He asked a friend, Mary Steele, who does ancestry work, for help, and her research led to Youngstown.
“I want to get these medals to a Stapleton family member who would appreciate them and place them in a place of honor,” said MacIsaac, speaking via telephone from his home in Marion Bridge.
MacIsaac, 76, said he has located several members of the Stapleton family in the area where he lives, but they are not direct descendents.
The MacIsaacs are a strong military family. He is one of 11 children, including six sons, five of whom served in the Canadian Armed Forces. MacIsaac served in the Canadian Air Force and planned a military career but received a medical discharge.
“I have also on my table the Canadian Decoration that my father received, and two that belong to my brothers,” he said.
He wrote a letter to Susan C. Stapleton or “Occupant” at the East Florida address in Youngstown, but received no response.
If no direct descendent is found, or they don’t want the medals, MacIsaac, who is a 56-year member of Royal Canadian Legion Branch 138 in Sidney, N.S., said he would put them in Branch 138’s post home in Port Hawksberry, where Stapleton was born.
“We don’t know what this fellow [Stapleton] did or suffered for us to keep us free. I just want to say [to his family], ‘Here they are, they are yours, take care of them,’” MacIsaac said.