George Wampler of Greensburg was intrigued by the epitaph on a headstone at Jeannette Memorial Cemetery.
"A Boy Hero Who Gave His Life for Another," it reads.
The memorial spurred Wampler, who worked helped maintain the cemetery grounds one summer a few years ago, to figure out the story behind 14-year-old Rober W. Eicher's death a century ago.
"It was a challenge, it was a puzzle to be solved," Wampler said.
With printouts of his own research in hand, Wampler attended a graveside remembrance ceremony Thursday held by local Boy Scouts of America officials. He and about 30 others heard about how Eicher drowned Aug. 11, 1917 in Loyalhanna Creek near Buttermilk Falls in Ligonier Township while trying to save Ada May "Maizie" Hugg, 15.
Eicher, of Jeannette, was posthumously awarded one of the first Boy Scouts of America Gold Honor Medals. He also received a Carnegie Medal in 1918.
A letter dated Aug. 29, 1917 from then-former President Theodore Roosevelt to Eicher's mother expressed sympathy and admiration for her "gallant young son."
"What a tribute," said Jeannette Mayor Curtis Antoniak. "As they say, if a person dies and there's not any memory of him or her, they die. But, here it is, 100 years later and Robert lives on."
Local and national officials and volunteers had been researching the lineage of Hugg, also of Jeannette, and Eicher, but were fruitless in their efforts to find any relatives or a photograph of Eicher to include in the ceremony. They had been hoping to solve the mystery of who has been leaving a bouquet of flowers on Eicher's gravesite for many years.
Gregg Motta, a scoutmaster in Virginia and volunteer researcher for the Boy Scouts in Washington, D.C., uncovered Eicher's story and notified local officials who were unaware of the heroics or that Eicher was buried nearby.
His death spurred changes in the Boy Scouts swimming and lifesaving programs to include training on the buddy system and safe swim defense.
"Whether scouting helped make Robert Eicher who he was or, by some divine providence, it was Robert Eicher who was sent to help make scouting what it became, the end result is remarkably the same...," Motta told those gathered at the ceremony.
Eicher belonged to a Jeannette troop. He was at a Saturday afternoon picnic when Hugg jumped into the creek for a swim, according to a newspaper account, research from the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission and a 1932 book, "Boy Heroes of Today."
When she became distressed 15 feet from the bank where the water was 10 feet deep, Eicher rushed in with his clothes on to try to save her. He was three feet away from the girl when he went under. Both were swept away by the water. Divers later recovered their bodies.
Another Jeannette Scout, George Hiteshue, also dove in to try to save the girl. He was pulled from the water and resuscitated, according to accounts from the time.
"It's never ever too late to honor a hero," said Eric Zahren, president of the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission. "A hero is something that lasts for forever."
Renatta Signorini is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 724-837-5374, rsignorini@tribweb.com or via Twitter @byrenatta.
