Indiana Thrift-Store Find Leads to WWII Veteran’s Granddaughter

While shopping for Halloween costumes at the St. Vincent de Paul thrift store in Fort Wayne, Indiana, 29-year-old veteran Zuleika King Rivera noticed a $9.99 jacket labeled “Halloween Jacket.” Inside the collar she found the name “Willibey” and the last four digits of an Army service number. The coat’s patches and markings indicated a World War II uniform.

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Rivera used the name and service-number fragment to locate archived records, learning that the coat’s owner was Gilbert Alton Willibey. He was born on April 8, 1917 and was drafted into the U.S. Army at age 24 on April 15, 1941. Records show roughly six years of service, including three years overseas, with postings that included South Africa, and that he held the rank of corporal. After the war he returned home in 1946, married Dorothy, and had a son, Bruce.

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An obituary revealed that Bruce had died recently. Rivera traced Bruce’s surviving daughter, Meghan Stewart, through a mutual Facebook friend. Stewart admitted she knew little about her grandfather’s military history, prompting Rivera to share all the details she had uncovered.

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Rivera arranged to meet Stewart and return the coat. Stewart’s reaction was emotional, with tears held back as she received the garment that had been missing from her family for about two decades. Rivera described the experience as more than solving a mystery; it connected Stewart to her grandfather and reminded Rivera of her own late grandfather.

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• “When I saw the coat, I knew it was something special,” — Zuleika King Rivera

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• “It still had the patches and markings that told pieces of Gilbert's military story, including indications of approximately six years of service, three years overseas, and that he was a corporal,” — Zuleika King Rivera

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• “I remember thinking, 'Oh my God, this is them,' and feeling guilty that I couldn't get to Bruce before he passed,” — Zuleika King Rivera

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• “She told me she didn't know very much about her grandfather's military history,” — Zuleika King Rivera

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• “I kept thinking about my own grandfather. He passed away from cancer a long time ago, and I would give anything to randomly find something of his today, something he wore, something he touched, something that carried a piece of his life with it,” — Zuleika King Rivera

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• “The fulfillment wasn't really in solving the mystery. It was knowing that those hours of searching resulted in another human being getting something back that connected her to her grandfather,” — Zuleika King Rivera

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