William K. Roper

Rank: Private, U.S. Army

Serial Number: 32486636

Unit: 30th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division

Hometown: Collingswood, New Jersey

Killed in Action: February 10, 1944, Italy

Buried: Beverly National Cemetery, Beverly, NJ (Plot D, RES-941-942)

Awards: Purple Heart

Private William K. Roper was born on January 9, 1918 to Mr. and Mrs. Laurence Roper. As a youth he had lived at 2827 Yorkship Road in Camden, NJ. He was a January 1936 graduate of Camden High School, where he had played football, and was a member of the varsity football and track teams his senior year. The Roper family later moved to 322 Harvard Avenue in Collingswood, NJ. William Roper worked for RCA-Victor in Camden, and had married prior to being inducted into the Army on January 8, 1943.

Private William K. Roper was assigned to the 30th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division. He was killed in action while serving in Italy on February 10, 1944. He was survived by his wife Helen and a two-year-old daughter, Carol Roper, who lived with his parents. He also left three sisters, Miss Helen Roper of New London, CT, and the Misses Nora and Alma Roper of the Harvard Avenue address.

After the war, he was brought home to the United States and buried at Beverly National Cemetery in Beverly, NJ on August 7, 1948. He rests next to his wife, Helen R. Roper, who passed away on April 12, 1993.