Howard Bayrle Link

Howard Bayrle Link, 96, of Port St. Lucie, Florida, formerly of Charles Town, passed away March 25, 2015, at Tradition Medical Center.

He was born Sept. 5, 1918, in Charles Town. He attended Roanoke College and West Virginia University before being drafted into the US Army on Oct. 22, 1942. He served as a sergeant in the 355th Regiment of the US Army Engineer Corps in WWII. He landed on Normandy Beach, saw service in France and Germany, being part of the group which threw the first bridge across the Rhine for the invasion. He was awarded ribbons and stars for the Normandy Campaign, Battle of Northern France, Battle of the Rhineland, Battle of the Ardennes, and the Central European Campaign. He was discharged Oct. 20, 1945, after which he became associated with his father in the mercantile business, Adam Link & Sons Clothiers, in Charles Town. When the business closed in 1955, Bayrle became a dairy farmer, from which he retired, moving to Florida in 1990.

He was a member of the St. Andrews Lutheran Church in Port St. Lucie, and former member of the St. James Lutheran Church, Uvilla. He also was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution and the Henry Kyd Douglas Camp, No. 199, Sons of Confederate Veterans and VFW, Post 3522.

He was preceded in death by a son, Howard Bayrle Link, II, his father and mother, Adam Baker Link, Sr. and Ethel Landis Link, his sister, Mildred Louise Link, and brother, Adam Baker Link, Jr.

He is remembered by his loving wife of 72 years, Alice Cary Polhamus Link, of Port St. Lucie; his daughter Kitty Kayrl Kaplan (Neil) of Cottonwood Heights, Utah; his daughter Linda Louise Whitman (Richard) of Beckley; four grandchildren, Brian K. Whitman (Nancy) of Powder Springs, Georgia; Julie M. Kukreja (Brijesh) of Algonquin, Illinois; David A. Kaplan (Lindsay) of Ft. Collins, Colorado; and Samuel A. Kaplan of Salt Lake City, Utah; four great grandchildren and two step great grandchildren.

Friends can visit family from 10-11 a.m. on Saturday, April 4, at Melvin T. Strider Colonial Funeral Home in Charles Town, followed by burial at the Edge Hill Cemetery. A Memorial Service will be held at the St. James Lutheran Church in Uvilla, at 12:30 p.m. with Pastor Karen Erskine-Valentine officiating.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to St. James Lutheran Church, PO Box 2008, Shepherdstown, WV 25443, St. Andrews Lutheran Church, 295 SW Prima Vista Blvd, Port St. Lucie, FL 34983, or to the charity of choice.

Please sign the online guestbook and view his obituary at www.mtstrider.com