Robert Earl Andrews, 1917-1972
ROBERT EARL ANDREWS was born on 5 June 1917 in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the youngest of six living children, to parents
William Arthur Andrews and Elizabeth Emma (Spielmann) Andrews.[1] He married Helen Evelyn Budnick on 28
March 1936 in Trenton, New Jersey, when he was just 18 years old.[2] He died on 20 August 1972 of melanoma of the
lung, which started in his right arm, after suffering for about two years.[3]
Robert’s father William passed away of pneumonia just five
months after his birth, so he grew up with his brother Edward, who was 11 years
older than Robert, as the father figure in the household of six children.[4] By 1920, Robert and his family moved in with
mom Elizabeth’s sister Emma Harrigan and her two children on Wheeler Street;
Emma’s husband Joseph had passed away in 1919.[5] Sometime between 1920 and 1930, the family
moved again just around the corner to 62nd Street.
On 28 March 1936, Robert and Helen went to New Jersey to get
married – Helen was just 16 years old, and probably pregnant at the time of the
wedding. Helen’s mother Florence
(Pierce) Budnick was a witness at the marriage; Helen would have needed
parental consent to get married at such a young age.[6]
The Andrews family got started quickly. Robert Earl Jr was born just 6 months after
the wedding on 14 September 1936[7],
and less than two years later Charles Warren was born on 14 May 1938.[8] They continued to live in the same
neighborhood as their parents on Wheeler St. in Philadelphia. Robert was a machinist helper when he got
married, and continued to rise in his trade to a machinist. In 1940, when he registered for the WWII
draft, he noted that he worked at Chester Dairy Supply in Chester,
Pennsylvania, which manufactured “Dairy Machinery & Supplies.”[9] Also on that draft card he was described as
5’8” tall, 140 pounds, with blue eyes, blond hair, a light complexion, and two
abdominal scars. Per his son Charles,
the scars were from appendicitis surgery that he had when he was younger.
Robert was lucky when it came to the War. He didn’t enter active service until 24 July
1945, and was not sent overseas until 12 January 1946, long after the fighting
was over.[10] He was a T/5 (or Technician Fifth Grade) rank
in the 337th Field Artillery Battalion of the 88th
Infantry Division Artillery.[11] It is probable that his machinist and welding
skills qualified him for the T/5 rank, which required specialized skills, and
also warranted a higher pay scale.[12] The 88th Infantry Division, also
known as the “Fighting Blue Devils,” played a large part in the fighting in
Northern Italy’s Po Valley. However, the
Germans surrendered in Italy on 2 May 1945, well before Robert was deployed
there.[13] It is assumed he was part of the peacekeeping
duties required after the War. By 12
August 1946, Robert was shipped home from active foreign service, and was
discharged from the Army at Fort Dix, New Jersey, on 18 August 1946.[14]
Sometime before 1950, Robert moved his family to the suburbs
of Philadelphia, living on Gramercy Drive in Clifton Heights, Delaware County,
Pennsylvania.[15] His son Charles remembers his dad:
“Dad was on the quiet side. [He] was meticulous. In his work and any project he took on around
the house. One summer evening we were sitting outside on the stoop and our
neighbor asked my brother and I if we would like to earn some money by cutting
his lawn. I was about 13. We said sure and got our non-powered push mower and
proceeded to cut the lawn. It was dusk when we finished. Those old push mowers
didn’t do a good job of cutting weeds and the next day it was obvious there
were still some there. Dad told us the neighbor paid us to do a job and it
didn’t look very good. He told us to get the scissors and cut all the weeds
that were still sticking up. Any job worth doing was worth doing right. Dad
didn’t make up that saying but he lived by it.”[16]
Charles provides input on Robert’s career after the last
available document (the WWII compensation application). Robert worked at the Baldwin-Lima Hamilton
Corp., a company formed as a result of a merger between the Baldwin Locomotive
Co. and the Lima Hamilton Co., as a welder.
“The Baldwin Locomotive Works was
one of the famed "Big Three" locomotive builders during the steam
era, along with the American Locomotive Company (Alco) and Lima Locomotive
Works. Baldwin built tens of thousands of steam locomotives and is often
regarded as the preeminent builder over even Alco and Lima as it was always on
the leading edge of steam technology and development. However, with the
Electo-Motive Corporation's introduction of a successful main line
diesel-electric locomotive in the mid-1930s, Baldwin clung to the belief that
nothing could usurp steam which ultimately led to its downfall as a locomotive
builder and its exit from the market very early in 1956.”[17]
Charles remembers his dad coming home with burn marks on his
arms and back; when he “worked in tight places the hot welding would sometimes
fall on him.”
On 7 June 1958, Robert and Helen added a third boy to the
family – Edward Charles. Edward was born
when Robert was 41 years old, and Helen was 38.
After 20 years without having another child, this was probably both a
blessing and a surprise. The older boys
were already grown, and soon to be starting families of their own. So, Edward was essentially an only child.
Robert died of melanoma on 20 August 1972. This author remembers her grandfather when he
was so ill. We would visit him at his
home in Primos, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and he would be in a chair with
his arm propped up on a pillow and very swollen – we were told not to go near
him for fear of causing him pain. He
suffered with melanoma for two years, and passed after it had spread to his
lungs. He is buried in Glenwood Memorial
Gardens, Broomall, Delaware County, Pennsylvania.
[1].
Pennsylvania Certification of
Birth no. 778218 (1917), Robert E. Andrews; Department of Health, Vital
Statistics, New Castle.
[2].
New Jersey Certificate of Marriage
no. 526 (1936), Robert Earl Andrews and Helen Evelyn Budnick; Department of
Health, Office of Vital Statistics and Registry, Trenton.
[3]. Pennsylvania
Local Registrar’s Certification of Death no. 754763 (1972), Robert E. Andrews;
Department of Health, Vital Statistics, New Castle.
[4]. For death of
father, see Pennsylvania Certificate of Death no. 123456 (1917), William Arthur
Andrews; Pennsylvania Historical and
Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
For Edward’s birth, see Pennsylvania Certificate of Birth no. 12166
(1906), Edward Callender Andrews; Pennsylvania Historical and Museum
Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
[5]. For residence,
see 1920 U.S. census,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Philadelphia, ward 40,
enumeration district (ED) 1456, sheet 33B, dwelling 657, family 669, Elizabeth
Andrews; NARA microfilm T625, roll 1641.
For brother-in-law Joseph Harrigan’s death, see “HARRIGAN” The
Philadelphia Inquirer (Pennsylvania), 4 March 1919, p.16, col.6.
[7]. “U.S., Public
Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 1,” database, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1788/ ), search for Robert Earl Andrews, birth year 1936,
residence Pennsylvania. See also, 1940
U.S. census, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
population schedule, Philadelphia, ward 40, Enumeration District (ED) 51-1588,
sheet 5B, dwelling 92, Robert E. Andrews household; NARA microfilm T627, roll
3736.
[8]. “U.S., Public
Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 1,” database, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1788/ ), search for
Charles Warren Andrews, birth year 1938, residence Pennsylvania. See also, 1940 U.S. census, Robert E. Andrews
household.
[9]. For draft card, see "United
States World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942," image, Ancestry
(https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2238/images/44033_05_00012-01511
: viewed 27 Nov 2020), images 1512-1513, card for Robert Earl Andrews, serial
no. 3781, Local Draft Board 59, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. For Chester Dairy, see The Bell Telephone
Company of Pennsylvania, Delaware County and Suburban Philadelphia Telephone
Directory, October 1936, Classified Telephone Directory, p.29; image, LOC.gov,
(https://www.loc.gov/resource/usteledirec.usteledirec07479/ : viewed 11 June 2021), image 208.
[10]. Pennsylvania,
World War II Veterans Compensation Applications, batch control no. 8664, Robert
E Andrews, 20 Mar 1950; Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission,
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/3147/images/41226_2421406274_0715-01378 : viewed 27 Nov 2020), images 1378-1379.
[11]. Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Record of
Burial Place of Veteran, Robert E. Andrews (1972); Pennsylvania Historical and
Museum Commission, Bureau of Archives and History, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania;
image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1967/images/31501_B023985-00118 : viewed 25 Nov 2020), image 119.
[12]. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technician_fifth_grade : viewed 11 June 2021.
[13]. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/88th_Infantry_Division_(United_States) : viewed 11
June 2021.
[16]. Charles Warren Andrews, "Family
History Questionnaire," written document, 27 December 2020; copy in
author's file, Winter Springs, Florida.
[17]. Baldwin
Locomotive Works (BLW), 1825-1956, American-rails.com (https://www.american-rails.com/baldwin.html : viewed
27 February 2021).
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