Robert P. Davey Jr.
Robert P. Davey Jr. — Rutgers University, Class of 1947 (in memoriam).
First Lieutenant • U.S. Marine Corps • Serial O-021603
216th Marine Fighter Squadron (VMF-216), 1st Marine Air Wing
Entered service from New Jersey • Died December 27, 1943
Buried at Manila American Cemetery, Plot G Row 4 Grave 38, Manila, Philippines
Awards: Purple Heart
Introduction
Robert P. Davey Jr.
First Lieutenant Robert Press Davey Jr. was born on March 26, 1921, in Philadelphia, PA, the first child of Dr. Robert P. and Sara Davey. His father was a dentist with a practice in Camden, NJ. Dr. Davey served as mayor of Clementon, NJ, in the late 1930s, and was at one time president of the Lower Camden County Board of Education. Robert Davey Jr.’s grandfather had been the mayor of Haddon Heights, NJ, early in the 20th century.
Robert P. Davey Jr. grew up in Haddon Heights, where the family lived in 1930 at 203 Station Avenue, later moving to 229 Gibbsboro Road in Clementon.
Robert P. Davey Jr. graduated from Haddon Heights High School in 1939, where he was a South Jersey interscholastic swimming champion. He entered Rutgers University in September of 1939, where he was a member of the Chi Phi fraternity, and was in his third year of schooling when he entered the nation’s service in February of 1942. He had been a member of the school ROTC unit, but chose the Navy, where he was enrolled as a Marine air cadet.
Robert Davey Jr. joined the Marine Corps and qualified for flight school. He completed his pre-flight training in Chapel Hill, NC, in September of 1942, and was sent for his primary training at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. From there he went to Pensacola, FL, for his advanced training in December of 1942. He saw further duty at Barin Field, AL, before being transferred to the Marine Corps base at El Centro, CA, where he became a fighter pilot with the 216th Marine Fighter Squadron (VMF-216), flying the Chance-Vought F4U Corsair.
Lieutenant Davey Jr. was killed when his plane was damaged by the enemy over Bougainville in the Solomon Islands. The damage caused him to veer off the runway and crash into a fuel truck on December 27, 1943. He had written home shortly before his death, stating that he expected to get some leave time, and expressed the desire to visit Australia. He was survived by his parents, who by then had moved to 229 Gibbsboro Road in Clementon, NJ, a brother, and a sister.
Haddon Heights Hi Selects Editors
Camden Courier-Post —
Staff of ‘Scribe’ Named for 1938–39 School Year; Hobby Club Elects
Reuben Cummings has been named editor-in-chief of the 1938–39 “Scribe” staff at Haddon Heights High School. Kathryn Siegener is the associate editor and Paul Denlinger is news editor.
Other editorships are Thomas Cooney, sports editor; Betty Faunce, assistant news editor; Robert Davey, feature editor; Mary Lynch, assistant sports editor and Emily Haldeman, exchange editor. Mrs. Sue O’Neil is faculty adviser of the editorial staff.
Reporters are Richard Sauer, Bertha Haines, Edna Simmler, Dolores Travis, Jeanne Zordo, Eleanor Rhodes, Samuel Frisch, Alfred Davies, Samuel Silverman, Harry Davis, Priscilla Lippincott, Jacob Lippincott and George Lenard.
The business staff is headed by Kathryn Ulmer. The assistant manager is Jane Strang. Dorothy Rudderrow is circulation manager. Betty Hutchinson is typist, assisted by Anna Mae Ahrens, Anna Olt, Kathryn Killen, Marie Pothenig and Sylvia Frost. Miss Kathryn Cameron and Guy P. Wharton are faculty advisers of the business staff.
Burton Anderson was elected vice president of the Hobby Club. Two club insignias given for achievement in the various hobbies, were awarded at last week’s meeting. William Pearson Lockwood won the insignia for building models of the China Clipper and Curtiss Amphibian airplanes. Evon Wells exhibited several perfect fossils, and Stuart Mitchell displayed his collection of military insignias. The latter are candidates for club insignias.
A Biology Club has been organized under the sponsorship of Miss Fanny Barnes. The members are Margaret Plugge, Phyllis Caravelli, Patricia Rearll, Virginia Melchert, Virginia Carter, Gladys Fischer, Betty Reamer, Margaret Dean and William De Sieghardt.
Kenneth S. Slagle, sophomore and junior English instructor, left Haddon Heights this week to take a professorship at West Chester State Teachers’ College. Slagle will teach English composition and literature.
Ten freshmen were elected last week to represent the underclassmen in the high school senate. The senators-elect are Bertha Muller, Jacob Lippincott, Hall Carney, Evon Wells, Thomas Fean, Ralph Boyer, William Sacheiben, Jean Frowatkin, Perry Flynn and Michael Tomksa.
The election officers were James Swackhamer, Louise Gianunzio, Dorothy Reilly, Reuben Cummings, Richard Leswing, Burton Anderson, Robert Burns, William Goodman, Harry Davis and Jack Leo. The freshmen representative attended the regular meeting of the Senate last Friday, and President William Goodman welcomed the new senators and introduced them to other Senate members.
The “Scarlet Masque,” freshmen dramatic club, will present an amateur program in freshmen assembly on Wednesday. Try-outs are being held daily under the supervision of Miss Helene Novak, dramatic coach.
The Alumni Association will honor the girls of the hockey and basketball teams at a banquet that will be given in March.
The chairman in charge of this affair is Miss Margaret Parker. Plans have been progressing for several weeks and all members of the association have been working hard to develop them.
High School Grads Seek Commissions
Camden Courier-Post —
HIGH SCHOOL GRADS SEEK COMMISSIONS
Three Members of Haddon Heights Class of ‘39 at University of N.C.
Three Haddon Heights High school graduates in the class of ‘39 are at the University of North Carolina studying for commissions in the Naval Air Corps.
They are Robert P. Davey Jr., 21, son of former Mayor and Mrs. Robert P. Davey, 229 Gibbsboro road, Clementon, William J. Muldoon Jr., 21, son of Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Muldoon, 9 Seventh avenue, Haddon Heights, and Arthur J. Ward Jr., 20, son of Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Ward, 39 Harvard road, Audubon.
Davey studied business administration for three years at Rutgers, Muldoon was an RCA employe, and Ward worked at the New York Shipyard.
Musician In Service
Another Haddon Heights High graduate in the service is Corp. Francis Madajewski, who was inducted in the Army last April. His home is at 712 Newton avenue, Barrington. He was a salesman for an automobile agency and played in Ray Cathrall’s Orchestra. He is in the Air Corps at Miami Beach, Fla.
Girls of Clementon Honor 4 War Heroes
Camden Courier-Post —
GIRLS OF CLEMENTON HONOR 4 WAR HEROES
A wreath dedicated to the memory of four Clementon heroes, including Lieut. Robert P. Davey, Jr., who lost his life recently in the Pacific war, was placed over the weekend by the Girls Social Corps of the Mothers Service Club of Clementon Borough and Vicinity on the Clementon Honor Roll board. It paid tribute also to John “Jack” Rumford, John Grimes and Thomas Dare.
The members who took part in the service are Kitty Lawrence, Doris Wescott and Constance Davis. The club is sponsoring a campaign to collect five-cent pieces to be sent to the England hospital, Atlantic City. The young women are planning a farewell party for Doris Welsh, who leaves March 9 to join the WAVES. They also plan to visit the Fort Dix Community Centre next Friday to take part in a dance, Mrs. Emma Davis, secretary of the mothers group, announced.