David Lupher was born in June 1896 in Saline County, Nebraska to Thomas A. and Frances (Hanselman) Lupher. His siblings were sister LaDora Grace Lupher and half-brothers Charles Edward Johnson and Thomas Warwick Johnson. The Lupher family moved to Kansas, and was living at Lawrence (Douglas County), Kansas in 1917 when David Lupher was drafted into active service in the Army. Lupher entered the Army at the rank of private, and trained at Camp Doniphan in Oklahoma. In the spring of 1918, by which time he had achieved the rank of sergeant, Lupher was transported overseas with Company A of the 137th Infantry Regiment, which engaged in combat on the western front in France. After the war, Lupher returned to Lawrence, and later married Irma Wullenwaber. Their daughter Dorothy was born December 16, 1926 at Portland, Oregon. A resident of the San Francisco area and author of many popular trail guides to the Bay Area, she died March 2, 2001.
From the guide to the World War I letters from David Lupher, U.S. Army, 137th Infantry, 1917-1919, (University of Kansas Kenneth Spencer Research Library Kansas Collection)
