Conaway was born on September 30, 1892, in Wellsburg, West Virginia. He was the middle of three children born to Glenn and Eliza Conaway. When John was four years old, his mother Eliza passed away. Glenn then married Lenora Cusick. John gained two half-siblings from this marriage. At eight years old, John lost his father and the family split up. By the time he was eighteen, John lived in Michigan. When the United States entered World War I, John enlisted in the Army Air Service. Before deploying, he married Catherine Jeffrey. He served in France with the 803rd Aero Squadron (Repair). John received an honorable discharge in January of 1919. In January of 1920, John re-enlisted into the Army Air Service and rejoined his old unit. He received a second honorable discharge in December of 1921. By 1924, John and Catherine had divorced. John then married Rhoda Spicket. Their son, William, was born in 1925. When the United States entered World War II, John registered for the Old Man’s Draft. In February of 1950, John and Rhoda divorced. John then married Gloria Shields later that year. In 1952, the couple moved to St. Petersburg, Florida. John passed away in 1955 and is interred in the Bay Pine National Cemetery.

In 2017, the University of Central Florida was one of three universities selected to launch the National Cemetery Administration’s Veterans Legacy Program Project. The program engaged a team of scholars to make the life stories of veterans buried in the Florida National Cemetery available to the public. The project engages UCF students in research and writing and fosters collaboration between students, faculty and local Central Florida schools to produce interactive curriculum for K-12 students. The corresponding website exhibit uses RICHES Mosaic Interface to create a digital archive of related data. The public can use the project-developed augmented-reality app at more than 100 gravesites at the Florida National Cemetery, where they can access the UCF student-authored biographies of veterans.]]>
Veterans Legacy Program Collection]]> ]]>
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