Funeral services for First Lt. William Winston (Bill) Shank will be held on Saturday morning, July 14, 2018 at 10:00 am at the Asbury United Methodist Church in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The service will be conducted by Rev. Dr. Stephen D. Hay.
The family will receive friends Friday, July 13, 2018 from 5:00 – 7:00 pm at the Lindsey Funeral Home in Harrisonburg.
Lt. Shank, 24, was killed in action over Bremen, Germany after encountering heavy resistance from the German Luftwaffe, on November 13, 1943. He was the pilot of a P-38 Army fighter plane and was last seen coming out of a dive and rising to rejoin the bombers.
After several years of searching for his crash site, combined with recent advances in identification technology using DNA, Lt. Shank’s remains were positively identified by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) earlier this year.
His remains have been returned to the United States for burial next to his parents in Woodbine Cemetery, in Harrisonburg, Virginia, with full military honors by Ft. Belvoir Honor Guard.
Lt. Shank was born on August 15, 1919 in Harrisonburg, a son of the late Oliver DeWitt and Margie Ruebush Shank, formerly of 412 S. Main Street.
Survivors include a sister, Margery Shank McGrath, of Kinsale, VA and numerous nieces & nephews. Besides his parents, he was preceded in death by two brothers, O. D. Shank, Jr., and Edward “Pete” Shank and two sisters, Margaret Shank Fretwell and Elizabeth Shank Deadrick.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.lindseyharrisonburg.com
