U.S. Shipmate laid to rest
A member of the Sons of the American Revolution shoots a round in honor of a Civil War Veteran John Staples along with his wife Martha Staples at Washington State Veterans Memorial Cemetery during a public internment. After their cremains were locked away in a vault at Fairmount Memorial for a century, they are now put to rest.
Cremated remains of John and Martha Staples presented to the family during their ceremony prior to internment in a niche at Washington State Veterans Memorial Cemetery.
MEDICAL LAKE – John and Martha Staples were interred with full military honors in a community service on Friday morning at the Washington State Veterans Memorial Cemetery.
John Staples, the second Civil War veteran to be interred at this cemetery, and his wife, Martha, found their final resting place after a century. Brenda Reid, the Staples' great-granddaughter, attended the interment along with 20 other descendants.
The committal service featured three members of the Sons of the American Revolution firing muskets, two U.S. Navy sailors folding an American flag for Reid, and the playing of taps. Family members traveled from across the state and country to honor their ancestors. Later that day, they went to St. Joseph Cemetery to lay other family members to rest.
John Staples served as a Union soldier in the Civil War. His wife, Martha, supported the war effort in typical roles for women at the time, such as nursing the wounded, managing households, and supporting soldiers. John enlisted in the Union Navy at 18 in 1862 and served on the USS Colorado before being discharged in 1863. Originally from Maine, the Staples family moved to Moran Prairie on Spokane's South Hill years after the war.
Martha Staples passed away in 1922 at age 77, and John followed in 1927 at age 82. Their cremains remained unclaimed for about 100 years until Rick Valentine intervened. Since 2015, Valentine has worked to connect people with the unclaimed remains of their loved ones, starting with a woman searching for a buried veteran in Spokane.
Fairmount Memorial Cemetery provided Valentine with a list of 824 unclaimed cremains. After extensive research, he discovered the cremains of John and Martha Staples in 2017, along with the unclaimed remains of the couple's three daughters, stored in Fairmount's mausoleum. The daughters, who died in the 1960s, were laid to rest the previous week at St. Joseph Cemetery in Spokane Valley, near their brother's grave. The fifth sibling is buried in California.
Valentine learned John Staples was a Civil War veteran and submitted the necessary information to the Veterans Cemetery for authorization to inter the Staples there. The process was slowed by requests for additional information and the COVID-19 pandemic. After gathering more records, Valentine submitted the details in April and received approval on July 5.
Their graves serve as a reminder of the diverse experiences and contributions of those who lived through the Civil War, adding depth to our understanding of American history. Their interment in a Washington state veterans' cemetery reflects the broader migration and settlement patterns of Civil War veterans and their families, who helped develop new communities far from the battlefields.
The Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs collaborates with veterans service groups, funeral industry partners, public administrators, and concerned citizens to ensure the dignified burial of all veterans.
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