June 28, 2025
Local News

Local veteran’s flag finds new life

By JESSICA BOURQUE
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Phil Cheshareck (left) and Roger Haefner (right) hold the flag belonging to Paul's uncle, Louis, who died in 1955. Phil was ready to have the flag destroyed, but Roger worked with the city of Morris to have it publicly displayed at the Morris City Pool to honor Louis. (Jessica Bourque)

MORRIS – Moldy, musty and stained: The flag belonging to former Morris resident Louis Cheshareck was in poor shape when his nephew Phil Cheshareck found it in the basement.

For years, the flag was buried inside a chest, but it resurfaced when Phil Cheshareck’s basement flooded in July.

“It was in such bad shape, I was going to have it destroyed at the Legion or the VFW,” Phil Cheshareck said.

Phil Cheshareck’s neighbor, Roger Haefner, had another idea when he saw the damaged flag.

“I told him I would fly it on my flagpole to honor his uncle,” Haefner said.

When he began cleaning it, Haefner realized the nine-foot flag was too large to fit on the 10-foot flagpole in his front yard, but he was determined to find a home for the Cheshareck family flag.

Haefner reached out to the city of Morris, and after working with Mayor Richard Kopczick, they found a new home for the flag at the Morris City Pool, one of the few locations with a pole big enough to properly display the flag.

“At the pool we could fly it very visibly. A lot of people go by the pool,” Kopczick said.

Kopczick said he was happy to find a location for the flag and honor a Morris veteran.

“It’s just a little piece of Americana from right here in Morris,” he said. “And we were proud to honor [Phil's] uncle.”

Before making its way to Phil Cheshareck’s basement, the flag was draped on Louis’ coffin when he was buried in 1955 at Mt. Carmel Cemetery in Morris.

Born and raised in Morris, Louis served in the United States Army Air Corps after high school. After his service, he graduated from college and went on to teach high school students in Newark. Louis was killed in a car accident when he was only 26 years old, Phil Cheshareck said.

“Nobody seems to know a whole lot about Louis, since he died so young,” Phil Cheshareck said. “So I think it’s nice that he will be remembered.”

Haefner said he is organizing a ceremony at the Morris pool for when the flag is officially raised.

Kopczick said it will be put on display beginning next spring, when the pool reopens.

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