'Victor is remembered': Couple hope to find relatives of WWII soldier
May 17—CUMBERLAND — A married couple in France hope to find relatives of a World War II soldier who had ties to Allegany County.
Mike van den Dobbelsteen and his wife Deborah lived in England until 2015 when they moved to Normandy where he took a job as a D-Day battlefield guide.
The following year after they purchased their home, the couple learned of a serious battle that had taken place nearby on June 12, 1944, he said.
The event claimed the lives of 87 Americans.
"But there was not a single monument or plaque that remembered them," Mike van den Dobbelsteen said.
"After we had researched the details, we erected a monument dedicated to the 16 soldiers of the 1st Battalion of the 115th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division, who lost their lives on that day," he said. "We know that of those 16 men, 10 were repatriated to the United States for re-interment after (WWII)."
The couple joined the association Les Fleurs de la Mémoire, "which maintains a list of families who wish to adopt a grave at the Normandy American Cemetery and the Brittany American Cemetery," he said.
They requested to adopt the graves of the six soldiers who remain buried at the Normandy American Cemetery but as it turned out, "these graves had already been adopted by other families," he said.
"We therefore requested to adopt a grave of a fellow member of the same unit, and they assigned (Victor Paul Zorman) to us," Mike van den Dobbelsteen said.
Zorman was a sergeant and landed on Omaha Beach at roughly 10:30 a.m. on D-Day, he said.
"He was involved in the fight off the beach, through the swamps near Colombieres, the Normandy hedgerow countryside and was involved in the liberation of Saint Lô on 18 July 1944," Mike van den Dobbelsteen said.
After the soldiers had some rest just south of Saint Clair sur l'Elle, they were again moved to the front and on July 31, 1944, Zorman was killed during the battles around the town of Percy, he said.
"We have been doing as much research online as possible," Mike van den Dobbelsteen said.
"Initially we started a family tree on (Ancestry.com) to try and work out whom he was married to, if he had a family etc.," he said.
The couple gathered information from various websites and learned Zorman was married to Jean Grose, who lived in Cumberland and in 1937 had a son.
"Ancestry does not allow access to their son's details since he apparently is still alive," he said.
"Should we get in touch with him, or any other living relatives, we would like to let them know that Victor is remembered," Mike van den Dobbelsteen said and added "on my tours I always share the story of Victor so that he is not forgotten."
Ancestry.com lists Jean E. Zorman and Victor P. Zorman living in a rented house on Market Street in Cumberland per the 1940 U.S. Census with Victor as a machine operator who earned $1,400 "in private work."
That year, the couple divorced, Mike van den Dobbelsteen said.
A Cumberland Evening Times Sept. 1, 1944 obituary states Victor Zorman was the son-in-law of Clarence E. Gross of The Dingle.
"A former Celanese employee in the plant's warp knitting department, he was stationed in England for over a year before crossing the channel in the invasion assault upon France," it states. His survivors included "three sisters, one of whom, Mrs. Robert Teter, resides in Cresaptown."
From their research, the van den Dobbelsteens learned Victor Zorman had siblings Frank S. Zorman, who died in 2002; Mirko Louis Zorman, who died in 1983; Molly Zorman, who died in 2000; and Jennie Zorman, whose status is unknown.
"Other channels through which we have been searching are dedicated history groups on social media platforms," he said.
"Any information that could lead to connecting with Victor's family would be hugely appreciated," Mike van den Dobbelsteen said.
To learn more or contact Mike van den Dobbelsteen, visit alliedvictorytours.com.
Teresa McMinn is a reporter for the Cumberland Times-News. She can be reached at 304-639-2371 or tmcminn@times-news.com.
