Maurice Mark LaFond

Jeremy Anderson2021-03-16T13:13:55-05:00

Name: Maurice Mark LaFond
Location of Birth: Marble, Minnesota
Date of Birth: April 1, 1923
Date of Death: March 18, 1998
Parents: Paul LaFond & Mary (Major) LaFond
High School and Class: 1941 Greenway High School, Coleraine, Minnesota
College: 1950 St. John's University, Collegeville, Minnesota
Highest Rank: S SGT (Staff Sergeant)
Branch: Army
Other Branch:
Date Sworn In: March 28, 1943
Place Sworn In: Fort Snelling, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Date of Discharge: October 20, 1945
Place of Discharge:
Military Awards:
Purple Heart
Air Medal with 1 Oak Leaf Cluster
European Theatre Ribbon with 4 battle stars

Military Highlights:
Newspaper article: Duluth News Tribune, Duluth, MN - 1944 – “3 IN FAMILY ARE IN SERVICE – Marble – Three sons of Mrs. Mary LaFond are in service. The oldest, Cpl. Clement E. LaFond, of Culver City, Calif. is a radio technician in the Army Air Corps. He is now taking advanced training at Newark, N.J. and Florida. He entered service in November 1942. Another son, Cpl. Gene P. LaFond of Marble, is in the engineering corps of the Army taking his training at Camp Shelby, Miss. and Shreveport, La. He is now on desert maneuvers in California. He entered the Army in May 1942. The youngest, Pvt. Maurice M. LaFond, also of Marble, is in the army specialized training program now training at the University of California. He entered service in March 1943.”

Newspaper article: March 1945 – “A letter to their sister, Mrs. Walter Strand of Coleraine, written by S/Sgt. Morris (Maurice) LaFond, tells her that he and his brother, Cpl. Gene LaFond, met recently in Italy. Sgt. Morris LaFond has been across since the autumn of 1944, and Cpl. Gene LaFond, who has been in service two and a half years, has been across since December of 1943. This was their first meeting, and they spent several wonderful days together. They are sons of Mrs. Mary LaFond of Marble. S/Sgt. Morris LaFond writes of receiving The Itasca Iron News; that the copies are late and that many times a late dated paper will arrive long before a paper which is dated several weeks earlier; which is due to the forwarding of mail only when space for second class mail is available on ships or planes. In his letter written Feb. 27, he says that regardless of when they arrive, they are more than welcome, as they keep him informed as to the whereabouts in service of many of his former schoolmates in Marble and later in Greenway high school in Coleraine. Both LaFond boys are well, and Morris wrote that he likes Italy very much.”

Newspaper article: August 1945 – “Staff Sergeant Maurice M. LaFond, 22, son of Mrs. Mary LaFond, Marble, is currently assigned to the AAF Redistribution Station No. 4 at Santa Ana Army Air Base. Sgt. LaFond, a B-17 gunner in the 15th Air Force with 19 combat missions to his credit, entered the service on March 20, 1943, and went overseas in Nov. 1944. He is entitled to wear the Purple Heart, the Air Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster, and the European Theatre Ribbon with four Battle Stars. At this redistribution station, an operation of the Personal Distribution Command, combat returnees of the AAF receive complete medical examinations, classification interviews and reassignment to domestic stations of the Army Air Forces.”

Wars Involved:
World War II

MIA / POW:

Civilian Life:
Maurice LaFond married Luella Palmer in Marble, Minnesota in 1950. He was employed in the tool and die department at Jostens for 35 years. He was a member of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church where he served as Eucharistic Minister; a member of the St. Joseph’s Mens Club; an honorary life-long member of the Knights of Columbus; a member of the Golden Kiwanis Club where he served as chaplain for two years. He was involved in the activities of the Steele County Historical Society and delivered Meals on Wheels.

Maurice died in Owatonna, Minnesota and is buried in Sacred Heart Cemetery, Owatonna, Minnesota. He is survived by his wife, Luella “Babe”; four sons, Mark (Linda) LaFond, Gerard (Karen) LaFond, Paul (Julie) LaFond, and Matthew LaFond; three daughters, Regina LaFond, Margaret (Kevin) Boettcher, and Mary (David) Lund; two sisters, Margaret Calder and Melvina Daigle; 10 grandchildren; and nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by three brothers and two sisters.

Tribal Affiliation(s):