Date: Thursday, December 14, 1944
Paper: Plain Dealer (Cleveland, OH) Page: 1

DEATH PARTS ARMY FLIER AND BRIDE OF 20 HOURS

North Royalton Officer Killed in Air Crash

By John G. Blair

"…till death do you part."
When Miss Mildred Schreiner, 21, of 2844
W. 12th Street gave her response to the
marriage vows Tuesday morning in a little
church in Malden, Mo., she did not realize
that within 24 hours the words said by the
priest would assume tragic reality.

Beside her, in neatly pressed khaki, as she
knelt before the altar, was Flight Officer
Emil P. Ratay--the youth for whom she had
waited two years while he was winning his
wings as an army pilot.

Yesterday, the honeymoon--and everything
else that was to be--was but a dream of the
past.

Transport Plane Crashes
All of the girl's happiness and plans went
plunging down with the army transport plane
that carried her husband to his death a
scant 20 hours after they were married.

Word of the tragedy arrived here just a few
hours after the families of the couple
received the glad tidings of the marriage.
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Ratay, of Ridge Road,
North Royalton, parents of the flier, and
Mr. and Mrs. Louis Schreiner, the bride's
parents were stunned by the news.

"It seems impossible." was all that Mrs.
Ratay could say. "We just received the
telegram about the wedding, and then a
few minutes later we got the wire about
Emil's death. Life moves so fast these
days."

Flight Officer Ratay attended North
Royalton High School and was employed
by the Brost Pattern & Casting Co.,
before entering the army 21 months
ago.

Besides his bride, who works for the
R.B. Biscuit Co., and his parents, he
is survived by three brothers, Warrant
Officer Aldrich in England; Joseph; and
Woodrow.

Funeral service for the flier will be

held here early next week.

Joplin News Herald
Joplin, Missouri
Thursday, December 14, 1944

Poplar Bluff, Mo., Dec 14, (AP)--
Names of four men killed in the crash
of an army C-47 transport plane near
Zalma, Mo., yesterday were disclosed
by Lieutenant Colonel Charles A.
Cowing, commanding officer of the
Malden Army Airfield.

The dead: Second Lieutenant Robert M.
Moser, Decatur, Ind.; Flight Officer
Emil P. Ratay, North Royalton, Ohio;
Corporal Kenneth H. Newell, Seattle,
Wash; and Corporal William H. Schauss,

Evansville, Ind.

Name: Ratay, Flight Officer Emil P. (Rataj)
Date: Dec 15 1944
Source: Source unknown; Cleveland Necrology File, Reel #066.
Notes: Ratay: Flight Officer Emil P. (Rataj), residence. North Royalton, O.,
beloved husband of Mildred (nee Shreiner), son of Joseph and Steffie; brother
of Joseph, jr., W. O. J. G., Aldrich F., U. S. Army in England, and Woodrow T.,
suddenly Dec. 13, 1944, at Malden, Mo.

Friends may call at Searles & Bassett Funeral Home, corner State and Royalton rds.,
Royalton, after 10:30 a. m. Saturday and until 12 noon Monday. Services at the
Baptist Church, Royalton rd., Monday, Dec. 18, at 2 p. m. Member of the Clark
K. of P. Lodge No. 764, the Patternmakers Association of Cleveland and Czechoslovak

Society of America, Cleveland Chapter No. 219.

http://www.wwiimemorial.com/registry/wardept/pframe.asp?HonoreeID=1122145&popcount=3&tcount=18
FL O Emil P. Ratay ID: T-065456
Branch of Service: U.S. Army
Hometown: Cuyahoga County, OH

Status: DNB

U.S., Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1925-1963
Name: Emil P Ratay
Birth Date: 11 Oct 1921
Death Date: 13 Dec 1944
Cemetery: Royalton

Cemetery Location: Brecksville, Ohio

Arkansas, County Marriages Index, 1837-1957
Name: Emil P Ratay
Gender: Male
Residence: North Royalton, Ohio
Spouse's Name: Mildred Margaret Schreiner
Spouse's Gender: Female
Spouse's Residence: Cleveland, Ohio
Marriage Date: 12 Dec 1944
Event Type: Marriage Bond
FHL Film Number: 2171099