WASHINGTON, D.C. — Last week, U.S. Senators John Fetterman (D-PA) and Kevin Cramer (R-ND) introduced the Dennis and Lois Krisfalusy Act, a bipartisan bill to permanently expand the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) burial benefits. This legislation will allow the VA to provide memorial headstones or markers for veterans, their spouses, and dependent children, regardless of when they passed away, ensuring that military families are properly honored together.
“Our veterans and their families have sacrificed so much and they deserve to be honored together without arbitrary barriers in the way,” said Senator Fetterman. “Dennis and Lois Krisfalusy’s story of loss and frustration is just one example of the families impacted by this policy. By fixing this injustice, we’re ensuring that families like theirs can be laid to rest together and memorialized with dignity.”
“The spouses and families of our men and women in uniform serve and sacrifice alongside their loved ones, and Congress should ensure they can stay together in their final resting place. An arbitrary, outdated restriction prohibits the VA from providing a memorial headstone or marker for military spouses and dependents if they passed away before 1998. Our bipartisan legislation removes this hurdle, giving families much-needed closure,” said Senator Cramer.
The bill is named in honor of Dennis “Denny” Krisfalusy, a U.S. Air Force veteran from Washington County, Pennsylvania, who served during the Vietnam War. In 1985, Dennis and his wife, Lois Krisfalusy, tragically died during an earthquake in Mexico City, with neither of their remains recovered. Though Dennis received a memorial headstone at the Cemetery of the Alleghenies in Pennsylvania, Lois was ineligible to have her name added under current VA regulations due to an arbitrary date restriction.
The Dennis and Lois Krisfalusy Act removes these restrictions, allowing spouses like Lois to be memorialized alongside their veteran loved ones. Under current law, only spouses who died after November 11, 1998, and before October 1, 2025, are eligible for VA burial markers. This bill eliminates that limitation and permanently extends the benefit to all qualifying military families.
“On behalf of the Krisfalusy family, I would like to thank the bipartisan leadership of Senators Fetterman and Cramer, as well as Reps. Reschenthaler, Deluzio, Joyce (PA), Meuser, Kelly (PA), G.T. Thompson, and Brownley for their support to amend an issue that has impacted many military families.” said Pat Maxon, sister of Dennis Krisfalusy. “The Dennis and Lois Krisfalusy Act, named after my beloved brother and his beautiful wife, will ensure that all military families will be memorialized with their name on a military headstone regardless of when they passed away. We were saddened to learn that Lois’s name would not appear on Denny’s stone, as they were united in both marriage and death. Should this bill pass, their marker would forever memorialize their undying love for each other. As their bodies lie in an unmarked grave in Mexico City, the headstone in the Cemetery of Alleghenies will forever be a reminder to our children, and our grandchildren of their uncle’s service to our country, and the wife that stood by him. Denny will always be our hero. We are forever grateful to all that served, and to the people that made this bill happen.”
The House version of the Dennis and Lois Krisfalusy Act was introduced by Representatives Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA), Chris Deluzio (D-PA), John Joyce, M.D. (R-PA), Mike Kelly (R-PA), Dan Meuser (R-PA), G.T. Thompson (R-PA) and is also supported by Rep. Julia Brownley (D-CA).
This bill is supported by the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA).
The full text of the bill is available here.
