Long lost love letters make special delivery
Antique shop find helps reunite couple after more than 60 years.
Long lost love letters make special delivery
Antique shop find helps reunite couple after more than 60 years.

By Josh Rabe

Published: March 2, 2007

STILLWATER — A Stillwater woman is trying to make sure a collection of about 150 World War II-era letters reach their destination, even if they're about 60 years late.

Shawn Irons said she stumbled upon the letters at a Bartlesville antique shop almost a year ago and never imagined the sender or recipient was still alive.

The letters all were sent to Alice Van Gundy, a U.S. Navy nurse, between 1942 and 1947 and a majority were signed "Love, Bob E.”

The letters spelled out a love story between the nurse and a former Marine, but it was a story for which the ending never was written.

Irons, who dabbles in history and genealogy, tried for almost a year to locate Van Gundy before getting a big break last month that led to a reunion of the long-lost lovers on Valentine's Day.

Irons sent an article about Van Gundy to a newspaper in Winfield, Kan., where she once lived.

A reader provided Irons with Van Gundy's married name and current address.

Alice Parrish, who now lives in Florida, told Irons she had no idea how the letters wound up in an antique shop and never knew what became of the Marine who used to write her.

A few weeks later, she had her answer.

A newspaper in Madison, Wis., where Robert Kinyon used to live, published a similar story.

This time, the response was even faster, as readers began sending in tips and suggestions as soon as the story hit the Internet.

The same day, Feb. 14, Kinyon and Parrish found themselves speaking on the phone.

"It's just amazing how quickly people can get in touch now,” said Robert Kinyon's wife, Joan.

Joan Kinyon said she wasn't surprised to learn about the collection of letters.

"That's how we all used to communicate,” she said. "Nobody would make a long distance call unless someone was having a baby or someone was dying.”

Parrish said she suspects the letters were tucked away in the attic of her sister's home in Moline, Kan., where they were forgotten until her sister moved into an assisted living center and sold the house.

Whoever looked in the attic probably sold the letters at a garage sale, or directly to the antique store along with other collectibles that were stored there and forgotten, Parrish speculated.

"It was so strange getting to talk to Robert because I hadn't even thought about him in years,” she said.

Robert Kinyon was on a military transport to San Diego, Calif., when about 12 members of his unit came down with scarlet fever.

The men were diverted to the Navy hospital there, where Van Gundy was a nurse.

The two dated and Kinyon continued to send letters after he was released from the hospital, where he had spent about five months.

Kinyon was discharged and moved back to Madison. Van Gundy stayed in the Navy, eventually spending 22 years as a nurse.

They eventually drifted apart.

A few years later, Kinyon went on a blind date with his future wife through a mutual friend at college.

"We've been married 54 years now, and it's been wonderful,” Joan Kinyon said.