Alfred C. Titus Jr.
Alfred C. Titus Jr.
Rank: Private, U.S. Army
Serial: 32486551
Unit: Company E, 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division
Entered service from: New Jersey
Died: , Normandy, France
Burial: Section E, New Camden Cemetery, corner of Mt. Ephraim & Ferry Avenues, Camden, NJ
Awards: Purple Heart
Biography
Private Alfred C. Titus Jr. was born on January 15, 1922 to Alfred and Julia Titus. In 1930, the family lived at 1802 Fillmore Street in Camden’s Eighth Ward. They had lived in New York, where Alfred Jr. and his sister were born. Alfred Sr. was employed as a bus driver, according to the 1930 census. He was the first man to operate the new trackless trolleys which Public Service put into service in September of 1935.
Alfred Jr. was 8 when the census was taken, in early 1930. He had attended the Cramer Junior High School in Camden, and after leaving school after his sophomore year, worked as a mechanic for the Public Service Interstate Transportation Company, where his father had worked. Alfred Titus Jr. had married, and with his wife, the former Grace Weitzel, fathered a son, Alfred C. Titus III. The Titus family by this time had moved to 1810 Fillmore Street, a few doors south.
Alfred Titus Jr. was drafted on December 31, 1942 at Newark, NJ, and reported for active duty with the United States Army on January 7, 1943. His induction records state that he had worked as a “gas and oil man.” His father passed away at age 53 the following month, and was buried at New Camden Cemetery. A son, Alfred C. Titus III, was born prior to his departure overseas on May 9, 1944. He was involved in the fighting in Normandy in July of 1944, as his wife had received a letter from him dated July 4 saying he had been in battle. He was wounded on July 12, and died of his wounds the following day. Private Titus was a member of the 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. While his grave marker indicates he was a member of the regiment’s Headquarters Company, newspaper accounts state he was serving with Company E, 2nd Battalion.
Private Alfred Titus was 22 at the time of his death. He was survived by his wife, son, mother Julia Titus, and sisters Ethel and Catherine, all of 1810 Fillmore Street in Camden, NJ. He was brought home after the war, and was buried at New Camden Cemetery in Camden, NJ on May 8, 1948, where he rests with his parents. He is remembered on the 8th Ward War Memorial on the grounds of American Legion Memorial Post 274 on Broadway in Camden, around the corner from the homes in which he had grown up in and lived.
Grace Weitzel Titus eventually remarried, to Raymond Camp. She passed away in February of 2008, survived by her son Alfred C. Titus III, daughter Dawn Camp-Wickward, son Peter Camp, and a host of grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Military Funeral Set For Pvt. A. C. Titus
Camden Courier-Post —
Services for Pvt. Alfred C. Titus Jr. will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday in the residence, 1810 Fillmore street, where friends may call tomorrow night. Burial with military honors by George W. Booz post, VFW, will be in New Camden cemetery under direction of Frank J. Leonard.
Private Titus attended Mickle school and worked as a Public Service Corp. mechanic prior to entering the Army Jan. 7, 1943. He went overseas May 9, 1944, was wounded in action in France July 13, that year, and died the following day, at the age of 22. He was a member of Company E, Second Battalion, 22d Infantry.
Surviving are his widow, Grace; a son, Alfred 3d; his mother, Julia, and two sisters, Mrs. Catherine Deaner and Ethel, all of Camden. His mother is a member of the Gold Star Mothers.
Photos
New Camden Cemetery — Alfred C. Titus Jr. and his parents, Alfred C. & Julia Titus
Alfred Titus lived in this home at 1802 Fillmore Street, Camden, NJ — photographed December 24, 2002