Jack L. Sponseller, North Canton, OH, Honored
Jack Sponseller, Number 54 back row, was honored along with the remaining team members of the first Vikings football team to play in the Hoover Memorial Stadium on the 60th anniversary in the Fall of 2007. Quoted from the article:
“Over the years, I thought it was quite an honor to play the first game there,” said Jack Sponseller, a junior on the ’47 team. “ ... I felt very honored because I had two brothers, both were in the service, and a cousin was killed in the service.”
His brothers, Paul and Marvin, fought in the Pacific and Europe, respectively. Marvin was a part of Patton’s 3rd army, which was pivotal in relieving the surrounded 101st Airborne in Bastogne in December 1944. He was wounded in that battle.
Their cousin, Harold Sponseller, was killed in France during the Allied breakout after the Normandy landings. He had played on the 1939 North Canton basketball team that won a state title.
“I still have a picture of myself with my two brothers in uniform and my cousin in uniform,” Sponseller said. “I’m just a kid. I still cherish that picture.”
Many in the small town felt the losses of war. Full Article
Chestnut Ridge School - Sponseller Grange
I recently received this March 20, 1912 picture of the students and teacher at Chestnut Ridge School. There are four students pictured who are Sponsellers: David, Mary, Homer, & Howard.
