LOCAL NEWS
Two Utah gold star families get their mortgages paid off for Memorial Day
May 27, 2022, 12:16 PM
FILE: Mortgage rates just hit a 12-year high. In this image taken with a drone, new townhouses are shown in Valencia, Pennsylvania in October 2020. (Ted Shaffrey/AP via CNN)
(Ted Shaffrey/AP via CNN)
In honor of Memorial Day, the Tunnel to Towers Foundation has paid, in full, the mortgages on the West Valley home of Army Staff Sergeant Paul Olmstead and the Farr West home of Air Force Major Brad Funk.
“Gold Star Families” are spouses, siblings, children, parents, or other relatives to someone that died serving our country.
Olmstead joined the Utah Army National Guard in 2016 and later served as a Special Forces engineer sergeant.
He leaves behind his wife, Danaya, and two children.
Air Force Major Brad Funk passed away May 1, 2008, when his T-38 jet crashed at Sheppard AFB, in Wichita Falls, Texas.
The release states, “Major Funk logged 1,689 hours of total flying time throughout his service including over 80 hours of combat time over Iraq.”
He leaves behind his wife Jennifer, and their three daughters.
According to the release, “The Tunnel to Towers Gold Star Family Home Program honors the legacy of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice while serving our country by paying off the mortgage or providing the surviving spouses and young children with mortgage-free homes.”
“This Memorial Day is the first time in 20 years America’s servicemen and women are not in harm’s way on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. These conflicts are over, but families are still dealing with the loss of husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters. I ask all Americans to take a minute to think of these heroes and their families who have sacrificed so much over the last two decades,” Tunnel to Towers Chairman & CEO Frank Siller said.
For more about the Tunnel to Towers Foundation and its commitment, please visit T2T.org.
