Algert “Al” J. Zitkus

July 13, 1918 - July 9, 2010

The son of Joseph and Mary Zitkus, Algert was born and raised in Joliet, Illinois. He had an older sister, Clara, born in 1913. Al was an excellent student and played saxophone in the R.O.T.C. Band at Joliet Township High School from 1934 to 1935.  In 1936, he was a saxophonist with a travelling band for a few months before moving to Chicago to work for R.R. Donnelley & Sons, a company that designed and printed tickets, postcards, posters, and brochures. He married Helen Gertrude Ellis at St. Joseph's Church in Rockdale, Illinois, on September 30, 1939. [1]

Algert enlisted in the US Army on January 1, 1944, and was processed at Fort Sheridan, IRTC (Infantry Replacement Training Center), Illinois. He was assigned to Company "B" 29th  Battalion of the 6th Training Regiment, and sent to Fort McClellan in Anniston, Alabama. [2]

After basic infantry training, Algert was transferred to New York City by train and then shipped out to England in April of 1944.

Helen learned that Al was a POW when his name appeared in a local newspaper, along with dozens of Chicagoans, on February 8, 1945. [4]

Stalag 7-A and Nussdorf
Wartime experiences and as POW in Stalag 7-A and Nussdorf. [5]

Liberation
Al sent a telegram about his liberation home to his wife, Helen, while he was recuperating in Garmisch-Partenkirchen with his POW buddies.  The US 10th Armored Division  and 103rd Infantry Division had captured this town, known for its association with winter sports and located at the base of the Zugspitze,  and established a Military Post and recuperation center. He and the other 19 POWs from Nussdorf stayed in two confiscated villas and a hospital.  At the time, it was unclear if or when he'd be coming home to Chicago. The first indication that he'd be home soon came a month later when Al's liberation was first published in the Chicago Tribune. [7]

After the war, Al and Helen lived in Joliet and then in Milton, Illinois, until moving to Richmond, Virginia, in the late 1950s after he was named Vice President of a new printing company in Midlothian called "Color Inc."  

In 1974, Al sold his company and retired early at age 55.  He and Helen moved to Bradenton, Florida, and bought a condominium. Later that same year, Al and Helen divorced (circumstances unknown) and Al remarried Mary Osie Chevalier of Sarasota. Helen passed away in 1992 and Mary in 2016. [8]

[1] Catholic Diocese of Joliet, Sacramental Records, 1800-1976 for Helen J. Ellis, St. Patrick Church, Joliet, Marriage Register, 1917-1964. Note: Helen's middle initial is sometimes listed as  "J" (as in Jayne); other times as "G" (as in Gertrude) in a variety of documents over her lifetime; https://www.rrd.com/about/history; re: travelling band: The Independent Musician, Vol. 33 of Feb. 1936, p. 5.

[2] US National Archives: RG 64, Morning Reports for February 1944: Roll 3

[3] Photo of "Fort Sheridan" courtesy of the Bess Bower Dunn Museum of Lake County: Fort Sheridan (Illinois Digital Archives). For original image, see: https://www.idaillinois.org/digital/collection/zlakecou003/id/2524

[4] "Held Prisoner by Nazis", Chicago Tribune, Feb. 8, 1945, p. 6.

[5] Stalag 7-A and Nussdorf

[6] Photo of Algert Zitkus courtesy of https://wwiiregistry.abmc.gov/honoree-plaque/?honoree_id=340446

[7] The Chicago Tribune of June 8, 1945, p. 12.

[8]  https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/heraldtribune/name/algert-zitkus-obituary?id=48735294; City Directory of Richmond, Virginia (1959) p. 915; "Printing Firms Bought Here," Richmond Times-Dispatch, Jan. 1, 1969, p. 42 (Color, Inc.);  "Color, Inc": Inland Printer, American Lithographer, Volume 163 (1969);

The Bradenton Herald of Jan. 06, 1974, p. 49;  (Al and Mary Marriage) Tampa Bay Times, May 7, 1974, p. 69;  The Bradenton Herald, July 3, 1979, p. 17 (Helen's passing).