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Contact Info
Home Town Sugar Grove, WV
Last Address Franklin, WV
Date of Passing Jun 21, 2010
Location of Interment Cedar Hill Cemetery - Franklin, West Virginia
Richard Wilson Homan, age 87, passed away on Monday, June 21, 2010 at his residence in Franklin, WV. Mr. Homan was born on January 14, 1923 in Sugar Grove, WV, the son of the late Dr. Virgil Ray Homan, Sr. and the late Leafy A. Mitchell Homan. On August 14, 1964, Richard married Jean Ann Simmons, who survives in Franklin. He worked for Kiser Roller Mill, Sugar Grove, and was elected to the Board of Directors at Pendleton County Bank, Franklin from 1952-2010, President from 1969-2010 and CEO from 1972-2000. Richard was a member of Francis Asbury United Methodist Church in Sugar Grove, where he was teacher and Sunday School Superintendent. He attended Sugar Grove Elementary School and graduated as Salutatorian from Franklin High School in 1941 and from Bridgewater College (VA) in 1950 with a BA in Math. He was the recipent of the Distinguished West Virginian Award.
Mr. Homan was a WW II US Army Veteran having been inducted into Company A, 220th Infantry Training Battalion, Camp Blanding, FL. He went overseas to Europe where he served with the 610th Tank Destroyer Battalion. He served in the Rhineland and Central Germany Campaigns and was promoted to Sergeant at the end of WW II. Richard was then assigned to the International Military Tribunal at Nuremburg, Germany, during trials of top Nazi leaders.
He was a charter member of VFW Post 9666 at Sugar Grove, which he helped to organize and where he served through all the chairs to Commander (VFW Department 1957, Jr. Vice Commander-in-Chief 1966, Sr. Vice Commander-in-Chief 1967, Commander-in-Chief 1968).
He served two terms as District Commander and served as Chairman of every major committee in the West Virginia Veterans Department and was then elected Deparment Commander in 1957, where he served six years on the National Council of Administration, National Legislative Committee, National Security Committee, National Awards and Citations Committee, National Budget and Finance Committee and as Chairman of the National Loyalty Day Committee.
During his service in the National Chairs of the VFW, he traveled in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries in Europe and spent several weeks studying first hand the conditions in the Far East, where he visited Vietnam, Korea, Taiwan, the Island Fortress of Quemoy, Hong Kong, Okinawa, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Phillipines.
Mr. Homan was a member/President of Pendleton County Board of Education, a member of Pendleton County Board of Health, Town Council of Franklin, Pendleton County Extension Service Committee, served four 6-year terms on Veterans Council of West Virginia Department of Veteran Affairs, and was a Corridor H supporter. He was a charter/life member of VFW Post 9666, American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, West Virginia Bankers Association (Past President 91-92), Pendleton County Industrial Development Authority, Area Three Governor Caperton's Partnership for Progress, 32nd Degree Mason – Pendleton Lodge 144 AF & AM.
Mr. Homan was instrumental with the water-line extension to Entry Mountain, securing Hanover Shoe Company and Franklin Garment Company to the area through the original Pendleton Industries group (now Pendleton County Economic and Development Authority), and construction of the access road to Pendleton Community Building/Town Park.
In addition to his wife, Mr. Homan is survived by: 3 Daughters, Amy Byrd DePoy of Harrisonburg, VA, Mary Carter Homan of San Diego, CA, Elizabeth Ann “Betsy” Sheets and Husband Kenny of Martinsburg, WV; 3 Brothers, Reid Homan of Sugar Grove, Virgil R. Homan, Jr. and Wife Jeanne of Sugar Grove, John F. Homan and Wife Loretta of Shepherdstown, WV; 2 Granddaughters, Hannah Byrd DePoy and Evelyn Carter DePoy, both of Harrisonburg, VA. In addition to his parents, Mr. Homan was preceded in death by: 2 Brothers, Morris M. Homan, Walter Byrd Homan; and a Son-in-Law, William Anderson “Andy” DePoy (May 21, 2010).
Other Comments:
About the 610th Tank Destroyer Battalion:
Activated on 11 April 1942 at Camp Barkeley, Texas, as a towed battalion. Arrived Greenock, Scotland, on 11 June 1944. Landed at Utah Beach on 31 July 1944. Committed to action 10 August near Craon, France, and participated in elimination of Falaise Pocket. Raced east to the Moselle River by September.
Converted to the M36 in September–October. Helped clear Maginot Line fortifications in November. Ordered to the Ardennes on 21 December 1944.
Helped eliminate the Bulge in January 1945. Battled through Siegfried Line in February near Brandscheid. Transferred back south in March. Crossed the Rhine at Worms on 29 March 1945. Raced through central and southern Germany in April and reached the vicinity of Munich by month’s end. Ended war in Ingolstadt. Attached to: 4th, 26th, 35th, 42d, 80th, 87th Infantry divisions; 101st Cavalry Group. It was first deployed with the 26th Division on November 12, remaining with it for a month during the fighting in the Saar. It served with the 87th Division during the middle of December 1944, and was attached to the 4th Infantry Division from the end of January through May, except for a few days in mid-March when it supported the 42nd Division. It ended the war equipped with M36 90mm GMC .
WWII - European Theater of Operations/Rhineland Campaign (1944-45)
From Month/Year
September / 1944
To Month/Year
March / 1945
Description (Rhineland Campaign 15 September 1944 to 21 March 1945) Attempting to outflank the Siegfried Line, the Allies tried an airborne attack on Holland on 17 September 1944. But the operation failed, and the enemy was able to strengthen his defensive line from Holland to Switzerland. Little progress was made on the ground, but the aerial attacks on strategic targets continued. Then, having regained the initiative after defeating a German offensive in the Ardennes in December 1944, the Allies drove through to the Rhine, establishing a bridgehead across the river at Remagen.
