Private Wilmot Charles Morehouse died on February 13, 1919, at Mestre, Italy, as the result of accidental gunshot wounds he received shortly before Armistice was declared. Wilmot drove an ambulance at the front during the final Italian offensive which brought about the collapse of Austria. Wilmot enlisted in the University of Washington’s ambulance corps, when it was organized by David C. Hall, in April, 1917. He trained with the unit during its stay at Allentown, Pennsylvania, and was sent with the Corps to Italy in June, 1918.
Wilmot – Billy as he was known to his family – was the fourth of five children born to Charles Richmond Morehouse and his wife Lorinda “Lora” Goddard. A native of Iowa, Wilmot attended North High School in Des Moines before the family moved to Seattle in 1913. He graduated from Lincoln High School in 1916. He was enrolled as a sophomore in pre-med studies at the time he enlisted. Originally buried in Italy, his remains were returned to the US in July, 1921, when he was reinterred at Evergreen-Washelli Cemetery in Seattle. (bit.ly/uw_morehouse)