WW II veteran, 101, throws Memorial Day party in Lower Burrell

Bill Tingle’s ears perked as his daughter called out, “Dad, look, there’s a kid waving to you.”

“Thanks for your service!” shouted a young boy with a toothy grin from the backseat of a car driving by along Leechburg Road, minutes after the city’s annual Memorial Day parade came to an end at noon Monday.

Tingle adjusted his black cap, emblazoned with “World War II Veteran,” waved and smiled back.

So did two fellow veterans seated alongside him in folding chairs on Tingle’s front lawn.

Together, the trio who served during wartime shares nearly three centuries of life experience.

Charles Gaitanis, 96, is a fellow service member and longtime colleague of Tingle’s. They worked together at Alcoa for 35 years.

At 93, James S. Foley, who lives a few blocks away, quipped that around these guys, “I’m always the kid.”

Tingle, an Army veteran, is set to turn 102 years old in August.

Monday marked the third consectutive year that Tingle threw the small celebration for his family and veteran friends on Memorial Day. They joined to watch Lower Burrell’s annual parade, then swap stories and chat over hot dogs, baked beans and freshly sliced watermelon.

“People ought to be together like this,” said Tingle, pointing to more veterans at the event, including those who served during the Vietnam and Korean wars. A few feet to Tingle’s left, a sign planted in the grass had an American flag background and read, “World War II Veteran William Tingle, 101 Years Young.”

Tingle came up with the idea to host the annual gathering three years ago.

His granddaughter, Erin Krumpe, came for the local party from New York. She missed it last year but was overjoyed to be there Monday.

“We just helped him execute it, but it was all his planning,” Krumpe said. “He does all the invites. We just help with the barbecue part of it.”

Tingle’s daughter, Susan Krumpe, 69, said that “he wanted to do it because we live right on Leechburg Road, and it makes it easy to watch the parade go by and it was a good opportunity to have folks get together and just enjoy each other’s company for a morning and an afternoon.”

She described her father as “kind and gentle and just thoughtful and fun, and he still has a great sense of humor and just enjoys people.”

“And the veterans that march in the parade are so gracious; they always stop and salute and recognize these three men for their World War II service,” she said.

Tingle worked on supplies and communications during his four years of service during World War II in his early 20s, with assignments in places including England, France, Belgium and Germany, according to Susan Krumpe.

After the war, Tingle returned to Western Pennsylvania and got married within less than a year. He delivered mail for the U.S. Postal Service while going to night school at the University of Pittsburgh to earn his degree in physics. He landed a job at Alcoa as a physicist. Gaitanis worked there as an engineer.

“We’ve been friends a long time,” Gaitanis said, doing the math in his head and coming up with an answer of about 67 years.

After the last spate of volunteer fire trucks and police cars passed by Monday, marking the end of a roughly hour-long parade that included young band members, dancers and veterans from several wars across every military branch, Tingle said it had been “a very good parade.”

“Now, let’s go get something to eat,” Tingle said to his veteran friends. The Hot Dog Guys local food truck donated the food.

“He’s known a lot of these guys since he came back from the war, and I think it’s just important to him to celebrate these guys. He still goes and eats at the VFW and really tries to support the veterans community in the area,” Erin Krumpe said. “There’s not so many of them left, so that was part of it, just to continue recognizing them.”

Tingle lamented that most of the people he served with directly, including people who were much younger than him, have died.

“Put that on a headline: Where did everybody go?” Tingle said. “I don’t know anybody now that I served with. They’re all gone.”

Events like the city’s annual Memorial Day parade and Tingle’s gathering help keep American history and the importance of knowing about past wars and the sacrifices involved on the minds of younger generations, Foley said.

“There’s a really nice crowd here, enjoying themselves and the veterans of all the different wars,” Foley said. “I’m surprised by how many young kids come up to me and shake my hand, thank me for my service. That made me feel proud, because they’re doing and seeing that before we pass away.”