The Delaware Valley Veterans’ Home, Southampton Road and Roosevelt Boulevard, last week posthumously inducted U.S. Army veteran Edward Comly into its Hall of Fame.
“We are pleased to have Edward Comly as part of our Hall of Fame family, where his legacy of advocating for veterans and serving our nation can be remembered and honored forever,” said Peter Ojeda, commandant. “We can now proudly walk the halls of this building that Edward helped to have built, knowing that every veteran enshrined here is receiving a proper tribute for their service and sacrifice to our country.”
Comly, along with Vince Malatesta, was an original founder of the DVVH, advocating for years for it to be built so veterans in the Philadelphia region could have a place to call home. Once the facility opened, he volunteered at least 40 hours a week to help enhance the lives of residents.
Comly, a Frankford High School graduate, served in the Army from 1943-45 during World War II. He served in Normandy and central Europe and fought for America’s freedom in the Battle of the Bulge.
After the war, he was a 60-year member of American Legion Post 810.
Comly also was a longtime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6617, the Delaware Valley Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge, Greater Bustleton Civic League and the 7th Police District Advisory Council.
In 2007, Comly was chosen as the grand marshal of the annual Somerton Memorial Day Parade on Bustleton Avenue.
A longtime Bustleton resident, he died in 2012 at age 87. ••
