James M. DeLeon II, 90, decorated veteran

James M. DeLeon II, a decorated Army veteran of World War II and the Korean War, a mortician and longtime employee of the Quartermaster Depot in Philadelphia, died Aug. 6. He was 90 and was living in Paul's Run, 9896 Bustleton Ave., but had formerly lived in West Philadelphia.

When World War II broke out, James had the idea he would like to be a pilot, but he failed the eye test. So, he entered the Army and served with a quartermaster unit in the Pacific Theater. He spent three years in New Guinea and the Philippines.

With the outbreak of the Korean War, he returned to the Army and was at the Chosin Reservoir in the winter of 1950 when the Chinese Army attacked United Nations troops, including units of the 1st Marine Division. His Army outfit provided cover as the Marines escaped the trap.

For his actions, he received the Bronze Star for valor and a Purple Heart for wounds. He attained the rank of first sergeant.

James was born in Sumpter, S.C., to James DeLeon and Lottie Stoney DeLeon. The family moved to Philadelphia in the early 1920s, and he graduated from Overbrook High School in 1936.

Always athletic, James played football and ran track at Overbrook. He played semi-pro football with the Philadelphia Buccaneers, an all-black team that won its league championship.

The Buccaneers were proud that they beat the Frankford Yellow Jackets, an early National Football League team, in a scrimmage.

James attended Lincoln University but had to drop out to help support his mother, his father having died when he was 12. He went to work as an undertaker/embalmer for the Santana Morse Funeral Home. He graduated from a mortuary school in 1938.

To supplement his income, he began working at the Quartermaster Depot as a mechanic.

After his military service, he returned to the depot, from which he retired in 1995 as a supervisor of vehicular repairs.

He also returned to the Morse Funeral Home, 40th Street and Haverford Avenue, and retired from there the same year.

James was a member of Frontiers International, the Olde Philadelphia Club and the Quaker City and Keystone funeral directors organizations.

He is survived by his wife, Doris DeLeon; three sons, Municipal Court Judge James DeLeon, Warren Parker and Jerel DeLeon; 11 grandchildren, and a host of great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by his first wife, Thelma Steed DeLeon, and a daughter, Sydney Parker Simmons.

Services: Were held Friday. *