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A Memorial Day service will be held at the soldiers’ and sailors’ monument on the grounds of the Adirondack Community Church at 10:30 a.m. Sunday. Participating will be the American Legion, the Legion Auxiliary and the Women’s Relief Corps. The groups will then attend church in a body at 11 when the service will be delegated to the observance of Memorial Day.

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Soldier funeral 1

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A military funeral for Staff Sgt. Jack Levitt, 21, who was killed in an airplane crash last Friday near Lakeland, Florida, was Thursday at the Adirondack Community Church, the Rev. Frederick MacKenzie officiating. A prayer service preceded at the home of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Cyril Levitt. Burial was in the North Elba Cemetery.

The body of the young soldier arrived here Wednesday morning, escorted by Sgt. Leo Newman of Springfield, Massachusetts. Levitt was killed with five others while on a training cruise. He was the radio operator on the plane.

Sgt. Levitt was born on July 22, 1922, at Whallonsburg, but he has lived here since he was 5. He had been in the service 11 months and was one of three sons of Mr. and Mrs. Levitt in the army. He was engaged to Miss Doris Peryea of this village.

The American Legion attended the services in a body and a bugler will sound taps.

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Soldier funeral 2

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The second funeral in a week for an airplane crash victim to be held here this week will be that of Lt. Donald DeMasi, 19, of the Marines at 11 a.m. Saturday at Clark’s Funeral Home. Burial will be in the North Elba Cemetery. A navy chaplain is expected here to conduct the services and will be assisted by the Rev. Frederick MacKenzie of the Adirondack Community Church.

The young flyer was killed Tuesday afternoon at Mirror Beach, Florida, while on a solo flight, and the body was shipped to this village under military escort.

Lt. DeMasi attended the Lake Placid High School while making his home here with his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Halsey Bushy, now of Wilmington. He had been in service a little over a year and had been commissioned just two weeks before his death.

He was born in Rye, New York, the son of Ralph DeMasi, proprietor of the Birches at Ray Brook, and Mable Bushy DeMasi, of Harrison, formerly of Lake Placid. He attended Missouri He had recently been training in California.

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Horse races

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The Lake Placid Driving Club is staging its first harness race of the summer season at the airport track at 2 p.m. Sunday. Beginning July 4, the North Elba Park District will take over the races as a part of the regular summer entertainment program and has appropriated $500 to finance the events and to provide purses. Races will be held each Sunday. The track will also be maintained by the park district. Entries will be confined to locally owned horses unless the gasoline situation is eased. There will be nine heats in three classes and a free-for-all.

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Browse past issues of the Lake Placid News from 1914 to 2008 online at NYS Historic Newspapers.