LOCKPORT, N.Y. (WKBW) — For 106 years, the final resting place for Pvt. Thomas Ryan was an unmarked grave in Lockport until his great-grandson stepped in this year to give this Civil War veteran a proper burial.
James Joustra Jr. has learned more and more about his great-grandfather over the past few years. Specifically, his upbringing in Lockport, after moving there from Ireland at age 7, and his Army service for the Union in the Civil War for the 116th New York volunteer infantry regiment.
"I read about this regiment, it was amazing what they did," Joustra said. "It fought in about 12 major battles. I don't know how you live through that."
Ryan served through the end of the war, spending the rest of his life in Lockport, where he died in 1919 and was buried in St. Patrick's Cemetery.
With the cemetery's help, a group cleaned up Ryan's plot, but when they unburied the headstones, they only found markers for Ryan's two wives.
His name was engraved on both stones as their husband, but for 106 years, he's had no headstone to call his own.
"You've got a veteran without a marked grave, and that really motivated me to get involved with it," Joustra said.
WATCH: 'The right thing to do': Civil War Veteran gets headstone in Lockport after 106 years in unmarked grave
Joustra, an Army veteran himself, got to work, reaching out to the Department of Veterans' Affairs, which, this summer, funded a headstone to place atop Pvt. Ryan's grave.
"It really warms one's heart because I feel closer to him. I know more about it. I never knew what he looked like. I still don't. I don't have a photograph of him, but I know a lot about him," he said. "Knowing what he lived through, I felt it was the right thing to do."
It took a century to get him a headstone of his own, but there's more honor for Pvt. Ryan on the way.
Saturday, November 8, will be 'Private Thomas J. Ryan Day' in Lockport, as the city honors him with a public ceremony.
The ceremony is at St. Patrick's Cemetery in Lockport at 10 a.m. All are encouraged to attend.
