Great Grandfather
Wilford was my father's father's father. He was born March 17th, 1922 in Des Moines, Polk, Iowa to Frederick William (Mar. 1, 1886 - Feb. 21, 1957) and Sarah Anna Gough (Feb. 19, 1887 - Dec. 15, 1967). He had an older brother, John William, who was born 15 years before him in Columbus, Ohio. Wilford would serve in WW2 as a gunner in a fighter plane in the Philippines, and the various islands during the Island Hopping campaign. Before the war ended, Wilford had married Margaret Eileen Yahnke (Nov. 20, 1922 - Apr. 16, 2002) in 1944, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was known for smoking a pipe, and once blew circles of smoke in my fathers face! He would not, unfortunately, live very long. He was preceeded in death by his father, mother, grandparents, and older brother. He died August 16th, 1987 in Tempe, Arizona.
