Anchors Aweigh

By Norman Edward Robinson and Sarah E. Weber

Events at Pearl Harbor angered 9th grade English teacher Norman Edward Robinson. At the age of 34 he left his teaching job at the school (in Monmouth, Indiana,) and joined the United States Navy. While he was gone, from 1942-1945 the school held his job open. School officials promised that his teaching job would still be waiting for him when he eventually returned from the war.
He traveled with the U.S. Navy as a Pharmacist First Mate to many countries, just a few of them being: Bougainville, Guadalcanal, Hawaii, The New Hebrides, New Zealand, Pago Pago, the Panama Canal, Philippines and Samoa. He participated in training exercises on islands such as: Efati and Espirito Santos prior to being sent to Bougainville. Mate Robinson also served (and wore stars) for his service in the battlefields at both Pivi Village and Pivi forks.
The opening Biography section explores the permanent relocation of his entire family from Belfast, Ireland to their new residence located at 2515 E. Riverside Drive in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was in the year of (1910.) It delves deeply into his other immediate family members giving explanations of how their relationships intertwined.
Outlines of Normans many educational accomplishments prior to those war years appear. It was his long time girl friend (of 9 years, Mary Katherine Mitchell) that waited so patiently for him to return after W.W. II in Indianapolis, Indiana. You will be reading much more about their bitter/sweet relationship in the later part of the book.
This book gives some glimpses interspersed with family stories, pictures, weather conditions and recipes describing the everyday routine daily life of those war years from 1941-1945. Narratives of the letters that flew back and forth with his family members, church friends and neighbors while he was serving are also included.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 25, 2009
• ISBN: 9781441576989

Norman Edward Robinson

Sarah E. Weber was born and raised in Indianapolis (Speedway, a suburb), Indiana in March of 1944. Following graduation from Speedway high school in 1962 I went on to attend Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. I lived on the campus in a dormitory and was enrolled in a 2 year secretarial program. Upon leaving Ball State I held a job for 32 years in the insurance industry with a big insurance company in Indianapolis, Indiana. After retirement from there I took a job as a cashier with a large grocery store (chain) also located in Indianapolis, Indiana. I greatly enjoyed both of these jobs. While working at those two jobs I enrolled in several different intermediate and advanced computer night school programs. Taking review classes in beginning and intermediate Spanish interested me. I enrolled in night school to further my study. I plan to keep expanding my knowledge in the Spanish language. My uncle Norman Edward Robinson became a permanent resident in a nursing home in July of 1977, in Indianapolis, Indiana. In June of 1977 I helped my mother, (his sister) dismantle his small 1 bedroom apartment. Wed learned that he would never be able to return to it due to health problems. I found his last remaining (typed) diary with notations of many of his W.W.II stories tucked away in a drawer. Over nearly the next 5 years I visited with him in the nursing home. Gradually I coaxed him to verbally try to elaborate on those W.W.II stories. At first he was extremely reluctant to discuss the stories. Each time I visited I tried to take very careful notes as he spoke. Early in 2003, I began working on this book. This has been the first book that I have ever written.

Book preview

Copyright © 2009 by Sarah E. Weber.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2009906516

ISBN:   Hardcover   978-1-4415-5119-1

             Softcover   978-1-4415-5118-4

           eBook   978-1-4415-7698-9

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Rev. date: 03/10/2017

www.saraheweber.com

Xlibris

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

577295

Contents

Acknowledgement

Biography on (deceased) author: Norman Edward Robinson

In The Beginning

Chapters

1.) The Shores of Tripoli—Guadalcanal

2.) The South Seas

3.) The Last Solomon Frontier—Bougainville

4.) The Road Back To Recovery

5.) The Warrior Returns

6.) Homeward Bound

7.) My Second Adventure

8.) My Vacation

9.) The Engagement Ring

10.) The Beginning of Another Campaign

11.) Panama Canal

12.) Mary’s Story About The Engagement Ring

13.) Anchors Aweigh

Recipes

Family pictures appear between chapter titles

19951.jpg

This book has been ghost written in order to pay a final tribute to

Norman Edward Robinson. He served with the U.S. Navy during W.W.II.

Acknowledgement

The front cover was designed by my cousin, Mrs. Molly Stratton. She was born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana. Marriage took her to Chicago, Illinois where she lived for many years. Currently, she has moved back to live in Indianapolis.

Molly drew the comical cartoon which appears in Chapter Number 11 titled: Panama Canal. In this chapter Norman gives his description of the ship, The U.S.S. Randolph, he is aboard as it makes its way all through the lock system in the Panama Canal Zone.

Her father was (deceased) William B. Robinson, a cartoonist himself. He was Norman’s younger brother.

The many long hours that were spent working on both of these projects are greatly appreciated.

Biography on Norman Edward Robinson

003.tif

The Robinson house in (Belfast, Ireland) as it appeared

shortly before it was sold

Author Norman Edward Robinson was born in Belfast, Ireland in July of 1907. As a young boy of 3 ½ he came to the United States with a younger brother, (William B. Robinson) who was then about 2 years of age. They arrived safely with their mother, (Mrs. Sarah Robinson) aboard the huge ocean liner, the (H.M.S. Baltic, which was of the ‘White Star Line’.) The year was then 1910, and their father was there to greet them as they departed from the liner in New York City.

His parents had been searching for a long time for a house in the Indianapolis, Indiana area. Finally after finding a house which they thought would suit their needs, they became anxious to purchase it. First, they had made some detailed plans and John had applied for a job transfer. Hearing the good news that he had obtained permission to move, he was thrilled. He had arrived well ahead of the rest of the family so that he could start his job duties, oversee paperwork on the house, and also buy a few pieces of much needed furniture. During this time, he would be staying with some friends who already had a home in Indianapolis. Those details would be completed before the rest were to arrive at some later time. Mrs. Robinson was to remain in Belfast until the home here was sold before coming to the States with her two boys. So far, all of the detailed plans were working out very well.

004.tif

The home was located at 2515 East Riverside Drive. The house was just about halfway on the right side, between the Victory Field Baseball Park (at 16th and Riverside,) and the Riverside Amusement Park (at 30th and Riverside Drive.)

The park had a: (wooden roller coaster ride, fun house, tilt-a-whirl, merry-go-round, Ferris wheel, roller skating rink as well as several other very popular attractions. Directly across the street (on the left side of the street) was a large and quite lovely golf range. The Riverside Drive golf range was situated (partly) beside the White river. A small shallow beach area was a popular spot for swimming, (near the 16th Street bridge.) In winter a small shallow portion of the White river was popular for ice skating when the weather would allow. Yet another attraction was located at 30th and Cold Spring Rd. and known as Soap Box Derby Hill. Young boys could build their racecars and race up and down the hill here. Competitions were held on this hill at certain times during each year. Many huge hills in the area were also extremely attractive to sledding. Neighborhood children could do this during the winter if the ice and snow would allow it. Many long mornings and afternoons could be spent within the entire area just participating in all of these popular attractions.

It was the home itself which attracted their attention. It was a 2 story with 4 bedrooms all located upstairs. There was a large front entrance hallway downstairs. A big living room held a fireplace. The dining room had a small back porch attached to the back portion of it. This had screens and glass windows but was not heated. Their front porch was open styled but had a roof over it. On the right hand side of the front yard, near the back part was a naturally growing apple tree. Mrs. Robinson used apples the children gathered to make apple recipes in her big kitchen. A pantry was located just to the back of the kitchen. There was a full sized basement with a concrete floor. A large backyard held a one car garage. It was situated upon a dirt alleyway. Across from the garage was a two seat toilet, also known as an outhouse.

Making their own homemade root beer was one activity they all loved to do as a family together. A very old family recipe had been handed down to them, from generation to generation on John’s side of the family. They would gather together in the kitchen to make it. One early Saturday morning they had all gathered together in the kitchen and were making it just as John, (Norman’s father) arrived in the kitchen. He could not find a chair to sit on. John jumped up onto the top of the kitchen table so he could sit there to read the morning paper. Soon it became time to add the yeast. However, none of the family members could find it. The yeast cakes had vanished! Everyone began the search for the missing small cakes of yeast.

A pounding at the back door found Johnnie jumping down off the kitchen table to answer it. It was then that Sarah spotted the missing cakes of yeast. John had been sitting on them all along. The entire family burst forth with plenty of good hearty laughter!

005.tif

Family picture of Robinson family.

Norman on left, John holds Margaretgrace on his lap (in the middle) while

Willie stands on right. ‘Sadie’ is shown sitting in the chair.

Johnnie had always had a rather unusual way to make funny things happen throughout his life and this was a prime example of it. Usually, however, he would not even be aware that he was doing something so funny until after he had done it! Family members were constantly commenting on his unusual funniness.

Because the front porch was open styled with just a roof over it, friends, neighbors and church members came and went on a frequent basis. Sarah liked to serve them lemonade and cookies while they sat on her front porch and chatted. She could be found whipping up lemonade, cookies or cakes on a regular basis in her ample sized kitchen.

Whenever children arrived they could take off to play with the Robinson children in the large backyard, on the back or front porches or even in the basement. Going across the street to play in the golf range was also an alternative. There were just so many different locations where they could go to play.

On a very frosty Thanksgiving morning in (1913) the ‘final addition’ to their family arrived. Margaretgrace was about a good ten days earlier than had been expected. The birth had been quick and had gone smoothly. Now, the Robinson family was completed. She would prove to be the final child that they were to have. Now they had three normal healthy children to boast about. As the boys scurried around the kitchen, helping their father with the Thanksgiving dinner they could hear their newly arrived sister crying upstairs.

The years started to pass quickly. Norman graduated from Arsenal Technical High School in (January of 1926.) He decided he wanted more education so he enrolled in Butler University in Indianapolis. To cut way down as much as possible on his expenses he took a local trolley car back and forth to attend his classes. Graduation from Butler (in 1930), found him quite eager for even more education. By that time he had determined that he did want to become an English teacher. He set his future sights upon being able to teach high school English.

Fortunately, while attending Butler, he had made some very close friends who lived in Lafayette, Indiana. He decided to enroll at Purdue. He lived with the three brothers and their big family in their home in Lafayette, Indiana during the week so he could attend classes. On weekends and holidays he took a bus home to live with his parents. Being able to take advantage of this arrangement saved him a considerable amount of money.

John also continued to let him live at home with him. He tried to help him out (from time to time) with a few of his expenses. Neither John nor Norman had cars yet. Norman felt that his education had to come first, even before the purchase of his first car. By holding down summer tutoring jobs he was able to begin to be able to save a little bit towards the purchase of his first car. John had already saved a considerable amount towards the purchase of his first car by this time.

After Norman finished school at Purdue he attended Indiana State University (briefly.) Following this he was able to obtain a much sought after Master’s degree.

Norman’s budget was always very tight. When he was finally able to buy his first car he bought a used black Cadillac. This was not until the early part of the 60’s. Several years later he bought his first very small 2 bedroom home. He selected a location some 9 miles from his sister in Indianapolis, Indiana.

His first teaching position was in Monmouth, Indiana in (Adams County.) This was in the northeastern upper section of Indiana. He would be teaching English to 9th grade students. He accepted the job and began with eagerness and determination.

Norman wanted each of his students to score well on his English tests. One year in Sept. of 1951, he saw many of the grades starting to slip. He was determined he wanted to try to get all of his students to improve them. He came up with the idea of holding a roller skating party for all of his students that showed even some improvement in their test scores.

A meeting with school officials rewarded him with permission to carry forward with his plan. He next informed all of the parents. All of his students were the last to learn about the upcoming party. Within about 2 short weeks he started to see some improvement in many of the grades. Several other teachers as well as a few parents volunteered to drive the students to the rink. Others said they would go to the rink and stay to help him supervise until it ended. His students were getting their homework done on a more timely basis. Parents told him that they saw their children spending additional time on their homework assignments in English at home. They were asking more questions in his classroom. Every single one of his students got to attend the roller skating party due to grade improvements.

Unfortunately, it was while he was teaching in Monmouth that he was involved in a near fatal car accident. It was in the early fall in the year of 1951. Norman was riding in the ‘middle seat’ of the front seat of a car which was being driven to the local roller skating rink when it was hit by an oncoming car at a large intersection. He was thrown right through the front of the windshield, landing in a vacant field in an unconscious state.

Norman sustained a basal skull fracture, fractures of both his collar bone and a hip, as well as a broken arm. There were deep cuts over both eyes, hips and legs. His family in Indianapolis was notified almost immediately. Of all the people involved in the accident, he had been the most critically injured.

News drifted slowly into the Bell’s roller skating rink (just east of Ft. Wayne, Indiana) regarding the accident. The skating event was halted earlier than expected. The waiting room filled up quickly at the hospital with students, teachers and friends. They all wanted to learn more about the victims.

It was not until a full month later that his doctors decided at the urging of his family, to move him to Methodist hospital in Indianapolis. It was located on 16th Street at the Capitol Avenue intersection. His family wanted for him to be located closer to them. All of his doctors felt that making the move to a larger hospital with more rehabilitation services would help him recover much faster. However, he was moved in a still unconscious state.

Several weeks after the move he did begin to show some signs of regaining consciousness. But for many weeks it was still touch and go. Sometimes he was able to recognize family members and/or friends. At other times he was unable to do this. Over time he regained both his short and long term memories. What had been totally and completely erased from his mind was the actual memory of the accident itself. For the rest of his life he was never able to regain any memory whatsoever of it. He was a very long time in the recovery process. After lengthy rehabilitation services were completed his doctors released him to go back to his dad’s house. He rested for 2 full weeks before going back to his high school teaching job in Monmouth, Indiana.

Norman was glad when he was able to resume his teaching job.

He taught in (Monmouth, Indiana) for many years after his return from the war. Veedersburg was his next school. After several years here he decided to move to Knightstown, Indiana. It would be a bit closer to Indianapolis for his weekly commuting schedule. He took on two new job responsibilities at the Knightstown school. He headed up a red hot debate team and became the new director of the school plays. He never had any trouble getting enough students to audition for him. In fact, sometimes too many would audition. Whenever this happened, as it frequently did, he found himself actually creating small parts so that each and every one of the students that auditioned for him could have small parts in his plays. He was always careful to also create a ‘recurring character bit part’ and reserve that only for himself. Then he could become an actual character in his own plays as well as direct them. The students at the school were always anxious to be in plays when Mr. Professor would be doing the directing. That was a fond nickname they had given to him and it suited him and just stuck.

007.tif

Margaret's backyard in Speedway, In. held guests for small sad farewell party shortly before Norman left for the (Great Lakes Training Station.)

From left to right: Margaretgrace Weber, Willie (his wife, Jeannette,) Mrs. Elizabeth 'Lizzy' Weber, Norman (wearing his uniform,) Mary K. and

Norman's father, John Robinson. Molly stands directly in front of Norman in this photo.

008.tif

Final photo taken of both Mary K. and Norman at the party. They stand together beside Margaret's (one car) garage in her backyard.

Angered greatly by the events at Pearl Harbor he was able to put his entire teaching career into a hold position at Monmouth. The school promised him that his job would be there waiting for him after he returned from his stint in the U.S. Navy. He knew his family would be overjoyed to hear this news. Entering into the Navy was simply something that he felt that he must do. So, he completed all of the necessary paperwork first before telling his father what he had already done.

John knew he would be powerless to try and stop him as he already had signed the paperwork. He told Norman that he was proud of him for making this decision. The second person he told was his younger brother, Willie. The last family member to learn about this was his sister Margaretgrace. When his long time girl friend, (Miss Mary Katherine Mitchell) heard of his plans she had mixed feelings. Mary Kay did not want him to enlist. All of them did try to argue with him that he was now older, (at 34.) All of them asked if he felt he would be able to withstand all of the rigorous physical training that was expected? He told all of them that he had thought it over carefully. He felt that he would be strong and feel well enough to go completely through the training before being sent overseas.

The family held a small, but rather sad going away party for him about a week before he was to depart. Only very close family members, friends, a few teachers from school as well as a couple of friends from church attended. They promised to try to write to him as much as they could and he also promised to try to find time to write to them also. He left with a long list of items that all of the people who had attended his party had written out for him to try to obtain for them as he visited in the various different counties that he would be sent to. The long list started out with his father, followed by his younger brother, and then sister, Margaretgrace. Almost all of the items were small ones that could be sent back home by mail or aboard large cargo vessels. It would take quite awhile to arrive at their final destinations but they would eventually get there. Margaret and Mary asked for a souvenir from each country he visited.

So, well before the end of December of 1941 Norman had signed paperwork to enter the U.S. Navy. He had a brief vacation for 2 weeks just once all during all of the time that he was in the service. All during this time period he was able to visit in many different countries, just a few of these being: Guadalcanal, Hawaii, The New Hebrides, New Zealand, Pago Pago, the Panama Canal, Philippines, and Samoa. Training for him was continued when he was sent to two other islands such as Efati and Espirito Santos prior to being sent to Bougainville.

Some of his other accomplishments include: membership in the National Educational Association of Indiana, as well as in the Indiana State Education Assoc. He also was a member in the Indiana Retired Teachers Association. Then an honorary standing for his speech was with: Kapp Tau Alpha. The debating experience came from the National Thespian Players.

After he had completed his stint in the Navy he returned home aboard the Randolph along with many other men and boys. As it steamed into the harbor at Norfolk, Virginia a great joy overcame him. He found that he was truly very anxious to return to his family, friends and school. He wanted more than anything to be able to share his war stories with them. Returning to his classroom once again gave him great joy also.

His students wanted to hear his war stories but so did his family and friends. Norman would try to reserve a couple of short stories near the ending of his class sessions once or twice a week. If his students had turned in their homework assignments on time and paid attention during classes that would be their small reward for that day. Both the boys and girls seemed to enjoy his stories. He did however, greatly downplay the horror stories, of which he had been a part of and had lived in for years. Instead, he mostly told humorous kinds of stories. Trying to talk about the horror stories were very difficult for him. He did not say much about them to his students, family and friends. It was not long until these types of stories were pushed into the very back parts of his mind.

Norman did suffer from haunting nightmares. Many times while asleep he would awaken in a cold sweat remembering an old horrible nightmare. It would play over and over in his mind like a broken record. As the years passed he tried repeatedly to just ignore these old haunting nightmares.

Now, all of the time that he had writing back home to his family and friends the mail was also being very strictly and carefully monitored. Sometimes, it would take several weeks to receive letters which had been written perhaps (in many cases as long as perhaps 6 to 8 weeks ago.) The mail did move, but it moved slowly due to these restrictions. His best correspondent was his father, John. John wrote him almost every single week that he was gone. It was never lengthy but he would jot a few lines to let him know how things were going at home and what had happened in the neighborhood.

His second best writer was his girl friend, Mary Katherine. She wrote him faithfully every week. His sister wrote also but not quite as often. She would always be requesting some item or items that her many friends wanted for him to purchase when he visited in the many different countries. His sister-in-law, Jeannette would usually start a letter. Willie would add a few paragraphs when he found time. Their older daughter might jot a few lines near the end of the letter. He always enjoyed learning the very latest news from his brother and his family. Willie and Jeannette tried to keep him updated on family news. John would try to write to him about neighborhood news on Riverside Drive.

There did come a time though when he really wanted to try to convey to his family back home the fact that he did know where the ship was going to be heading next and he felt that if he would just write to Margaret in a certain style of writing that she would ‘pick up’ on it. She would be able to inform the rest of the family where he was next heading. Many times, ships would be heading to unknown destinations. Perhaps only the captain and crew would know where it was heading. This was because there were many restrictions. If word got out, even accidentally, as to where the various ships were heading, and if any were captured by the enemy, there could be dire consequences. Therefore, everything had to be done in a slightly different manner of writing in order to get the indications across to the family members back home.

Norman, (being the oldest of the three children) had always had a rather unusual way to communicate with his younger brother, Willie and sister, Margaretgrace. Many times, as teenagers, they did not want their parents to know what they were saying. So, Norman sort of ‘invented’ a sort of made up Pig Latin—English language style entirely of his own invention. Their parents could not understand very much of it at all. The made up language really did truly mystify them.

Now, he knew the ship (in this case) was heading to Guadalcanal. He did not have to use the special type of "made up Pig Latin language’ in this case because he knew Margaret would ‘pick up’ on what he was trying to convey to her. This is how he wrote his letter to her:

Hi Margaret,

I am in receipt of your last letter that I got a few weeks ago. I have been pretty busy attending to my sick bay duties by daytime. Then there are surprise inspections which pop up sometimes also which keep us busy. We have ‘muster’ every morning on board this ship. All of these duties keep us busy and on our feet.

I am sorry I have taken so long to write to you. The past 2 days have been stormy for the most part. It has been difficult to keep my pen upon the paper due to the rocking and rolling of the ship. This morning the sun came out briefly. The waves died down considerably. The sun finally came out again this afternoon. A little breeze then arrived bringing a welcome relief from the heat.

I was happy to hear that everything at home is fine. You did mention it got up to about 98 degrees and that was hot! I am so glad that you, Willie and Fred were able to go to the local canal for a cooling swim though. You do know, that if I had been there and able to go with you all, you would have gotten plenty of water splashed upon you. You also know, I am quite sure, that I always prefer going for a swim in the canal instead of at the shallow beach on the White river. The depth of the water is, in places a bit deeper so you know I prefer this to the river beach.

Maybe I will get some leave time soon? If I get to come home for a couple of weeks you can be sure that I will go with you, Fred and Willie to the canal for a cool swim. Now, I really do need to get some chow before I stand my watch duty in the sick bay.

Keep sitting on your front porch sipping lemonade and making cookies for your friends and neighbors. If I do get home it would please me so much to be able to do that with you and all your friends.

Much of my love to you all, fondly,

your oldest brother, Norman

Now, Margaretgrace certainly did not waste much time in letting her other family members know she was certain he was heading to Guadalcanal. She had, indeed, ‘picked up’ on it immediately. This was a good example of how the three children communicated so unusually well together.

In March of 1997 Norman had developed (what doctors thought) was a possible blood clot in one of his legs. It was just a little above his knee. However, all of the symptoms were far too vague to be able to be diagnosed correctly. His doctors began basic treatment for this condition. Tests could not seem to pinpoint the problem. It swiftly got out of control less than two months later. He entered Methodist hospital on 16th Street at the Capitol Avenue intersection for removal of two of his toes. Almost three weeks later most of the remainder of his foot also had to be removed. Only a small heel portion of his foot was able to be saved. Fortunately, the rest of his leg was able to be saved.

After recovery at the hospital he was sent to a local nursing home. In time, he received a prosthesis for his leg and foot. In time, he learned how to walk upon it reasonably well.

Norman became a permanent resident at this fine home. He greatly enjoyed living here. Playing bingo, participating in weekly religious services and watching movies were three activities he enjoyed the most. His three nieces saw to it that he was able to celebrate his birthdays and Christmas times with them also. They took him out to two of his most favorite restaurants: The Steak ‘n’ Shake and the White Castle Restaurant. He also enjoyed going to view the Christmas Spectacular show at the Beef and Boards Dinner Theater.

The two oldest of his nieces were already married with children of their own. The youngest had not yet married and was working in the insurance industry. She enjoyed her job here very much. They all arranged to visit with him just as much as they could. He also received a nice long visit with several of his relatives who had come from their homes in Toronto, Canada to see him. They arrived a little less than three months before his death. He was overjoyed to get to see and visit with them.

Norman Edward Robinson was just about some 3 months shy of turning (95) when he passed away in Northwest Mannor nursing home. It is located on W. 34th St. in Indianapolis, Indiana. Early on an April morning in (2002) he passed away peacefully in his sleep.

His sister owned a small 2 bedroom home just about a 10 minute drive away from the nursing home, (in Speedway.) She was a regular weekly visitor for almost the full five years that he was a resident here.

After the war years were over Norman decided he did want very much to return again to be a member at Christ Church. He was teaching now. Over weekends and holiday periods he took a bus home to live with his dad temporarily. On Sundays he was then able to attend services at the church once again with his family and friends. This arrangement pleased him very much.

Upon reaching 62 he decided to take an early retirement from teaching. He wanted more free time. The church hosted a yearly Strawberry Festival each year in the month of June. He learned volunteers were badly needed for a variety of different duties for the once a year event. Being retired with lots of free time he found a duty he liked to do and volunteered for this.

Taking a bus he would usually arrive at the church about 7 a.m. He helped other volunteers set up the outdoor furniture such as tables, chairs and umbrellas. After the event had ended for the day he would help remove and store all of the furniture.

Not long thereafter, his brother-in-law, Fred Weber, (who had married his sister in Sept. of 1936,) took his final retirement from his insurance company. He had 47 faithful years here, most of this time being spent as an underwriter. He found he had some free time. Fred volunteered to help out a couple of days each week for just a few hours each day, in the financial department at the church. He heard ushers were desperately needed so he volunteered for this too. He also acted for a number of years, as a cashier at the Strawberry Festival the church hosted each year in June. Norman volunteered to help out in the ushering department under Fred’s able leadership.

While working in the insurance industry on a full time basis he had been the main organist serving also as a choir director for many years. Fred also played the carillons. When a new set of bells (played from the organ) were installed he taught himself how to play them. He transposed the hymns from the organ to the organ carillons. Fred was a member in the American Guild of Organists for many years.

009.tif

Before Christ Church converted the carillons to the organ, Fred played them

by using this set of levers. He is demonstrating how this was done

PRIOR to the conversion.

010.tif

After the installation was completed , the carillons were now played entirely by using the organ instead of the levers. Fred used any spare time he could find in order to transpose the church hymns from the levers to the organ.

The yearly Strawberry Festival has been held in the month of June every year. A few months prior to it, many volunteer members of the church make up the old English styled biscuits and freeze them. On the morning of the festival they are withdrawn from the large freezers and piled high with (3) more ingredients: the bottom layer is the biscuits, then a generous layer of vanilla ice cream is added, followed by the strawberries and finally all topped off with lots of whipped cream. This combination is very well known as The Works.

Christ Church Cathedral, located on Monument Circle, in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana is now a historic landmark It features Gothic styled architecture. There are three organs. One is in the front of the church near the altar, a second is in the back located in the loft area. A third small Continuo Positive organ was dedicated as a Fredrick E. Weber Memorial at the 11 a.m. service on 09-29-1996. It is used quite frequently by organ students or for giving organ recitals.

One thing which is very unique about the church is that quite a lot of its newly acquired rooms are located right under the front yard of the church. Many years ago the church found it had to expand. There was virtually no direction available to expand into. The only other alternative was to dig underground to add the required amount of rooms that were so desperately needed. ¹

William B. Robinson