Family members of Iowan Alden Pearl Anders are still waiting for him to come home – 77 years after he and his crewmates were shot down off Indonesia, in the Pacific theater of World War II.

Among those waiting are a niece, Sherri Peterson, of Cedar Falls.

But the wait is over for her father, Alden's brother, Merwin Anders.

Merwin recently passed away at age 96. He had recently resided at Bridges Senior Living in Waterloo, adjacent to the Grout Museum District.

Peterson and Anders were frequent visitors to the Grout Museum and the Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum, until Merwin's heal...