John Norbert Boughner
My Dad's Cousin
John Norbert Boughner, my Dad's first cousin died at the age of 73, in the Veteran's Admistration Hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana.
John was born September 7, 1919, in Connersville, Indiana. He was the son of Oliver and Elizabeth Baudendistel Boughner, both of whom preceded him in death. His mother died when he was a young teenager. He had four brothers, Tom, Bill, Marion, and Francis, who all lived around the Connersville, Richmond area. He had three sisters. Olive Cummings, Margaret Gill, and Helen Dollar.
John was a World War II Army Veteran in the 772nd Military Police Battalion, serving from November 1942 to August 1945. He was a member of the Amvets, American Legion, and Disabled American Veterans. He was buried with full military honors. He was a member of St. Gabriel's Catholic Church.
Although we lived in the same town I never knew my Dad's cousins. I really don't know why we didn't spend time around them. I remember one time that my mom stopped at a house to drop off something, it may have been homemade jelly. I asked her who lived there and she said your dad's cousin. She went up and someone opened the door and they stood and talked for awhile. I don't know if it was John's house or one of his siblings. My brothers had met some of them around town. They were older than my brothers, but they got to know them as acquaintances. The Boughner's told my brothers that they were related, but my brothers didn't seem to know how closely related we were. One of my brother's married a Boughner girl when they were older, I'm not sure they realized they were second cousins until later.
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