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Correspondent photo / Sean Barron
Richard Ridener of Vienna carefully places a wreath next to the gravestone bearing the name of his late father, Earl R. Ridener, a World War II U.S. Navy veteran who was among the service members honored during Saturdayâs annual Wreaths Across America event in the Girard-Liberty Union Cemetery in Girard. The elder Ridener died in 2004.
GIRARD Earl R. Ridener spent much of his life in the construction business building homes, but he also had built a foundation upon which sits the legacy of a man who reached far beyond himself, those who knew him say.
SEAN BARRON
GIRARD Earl R. Ridener spent much of his life in the construction business building homes, but he also had built a foundation upon which sits the legacy of a man who reached far beyond himself, those who knew him say.
“He served as a Navy boatswain mate,” Ridener’s son, Richard Ridener of Vienna, said. “He was in the Pacific (Theater) aboard an aircraft carrier.”
The elder Ridener, who was in the U.S. Navy from 1943 to 1946, also was among the hundreds of service members who were remembered and honored during a Wreaths Across America event Saturday afternoon at the Girard-Liberty Union Cemetery, 950 N. State St.