1972: Jerome Sternberg Sr. Dies

On January 2, 1972, in Savannah, GA, Jerome Sternberg Senior died at the age of 81.  He was buried January 3, 1972 in Lot 1694 in Laurel Grove North Cemetery in Savannah.

Below is the burial record from Laurel Grove Cemetery.

I do not have access to his death certificate, so I can't say how he died. But the certificate could be obtained from Georgia vital records. Here is the VA's record of death and burial that includes information about his time in service:

1952-1955: Jerome Remarries

Sometime between 1952 and 1955, Jerome married Loretta M. Floyd of Savannah. I haven't been able to find a marriage record for these two, but there is a Savannah Directory entry that shows Loretta as Jerome's wife in 1955, but in 1951, Jerome is listed without a wife and in 1953, Loretta is still Loretta Floyd. Below is the 1955 listing showing them as married,

and the 1953 listing of Loretta, one of the many Floyds in the Savannah Directory that year. 

Loretta and Jerome stayed married until his death in 1972, as far as I have been able to determine. Then she lived another 30 years, dying February 7, 2002 as Loretta Sternberg. Below is her brief obituary that appeared in the Savannah Morning News:

Loretta Sternberg

Guyton - Loretta Sternberg, 94, died Tuesday, Feb. 5 at Westview Nursing Center. She was a homemaker and a member of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. Survivors: her niece and nephew, Carolyn & Cecil Zeigler of Guyton and numerous great nieces and nephews. Thomas C. Strickland & Sons Effingham Chapel (912) 754-6421

September 3, 1940: Annie Lamon Sternberg Dies

On September 3, 1940, Annie Lamon Sternberg, Jerome's wife, died at age 37. I have not found any records of what she died from. Unfortunately, her son Jerome Jr. was only 16 years old and his sister, Ida, was 18; it must have been difficult for all of them. There was quite an age difference between Jerome and Annie. He must have believed she would outlive him, but instead he lived another 32 years, eventually remarrying in his 60s.

Below is a death notice from the September 28, 1940 edition of The Bulletin of the Catholic Laymen's Association of Georgia, a publication of the Diocese of Savannah.

Their proofreading leaves something to be desired. Their daughter's name was Ida, not Eda, and according to the Georgia Death Index, Annie died on September 3rd, not August 3rd. And something seems to be left out in the list of brothers. I think that N. Tucker refers to her sister Nettie, so it's nice to know whom she married.

1930-1940 The Depression Years

The thirties were not too bad for the Sternbergs. They stayed in Savannah and it appears that Jerome was employed during that time. The 1934 Savannah City Directory shows Jerome (and Annie) living at 1234 East 42d Street.

Below is a photo of the house that is currently at that address. Whether it was the house they lived in is not certain; one source I read said the house was built in 1935, so it's possible it's the same house.

In 1934 Jerome was working as a salesman for Libby, McNeill & Libby Company. We know that company today as Libby, maker of canned foods.

In 1936, Jerome's father, Jacob Sternberg, died in Jacksonville, FL on October 30th. He was buried in Savannah, in the Laurel Grove Cemetery.

I have no other documents from the thirties, but the 1940 census shows Jerome as working full time for a different employer, this time as a timekeeper for a housing project. He is no longer living at the house pictured above, but is still living in Savannah.

Throughout his adult life, Jerome rented rather than owned his housing. I think people didn't buy houses so much back then. And considering how often the Sternbergs moved, it's probably just as well. But despite the frequent changes in residence and employment, and the fact that he had only a 6th grade education (see 1940 census), I think Jerome was quite successful!

1930: Jacob Retires and Moves to Florida; Jerome Stays in Savannah

Throughout the twenties, Jerome had some kind of sales or merchandising position, often with his father, Jacob. In 1928, Jacob was selling school supplies, and apparently owned the business with his son, Jerome. Jacob's brother, Simon, was working there too, it seems. Below is the 1928 Savannah City Directory listing for the Sternbergs.

By 1930, however, Jacob had retired to Jacksonville, Florida and was living there with his daughter Blanche and her family. Her husband was the owner of an auto dealership.

Jerome was still in Savannah in 1930, and was a salesman for a meat products company. He had two children by then, Ida and Jerome Jr. It's not clear what happened to the school supplies business, J. Sternberg & Son, but the stock market crash of 1929 may have had some impact on it.

1920s: Jerome Marries and Starts a Family

In the 1920 census for Savannah, Jerome is living with his sister, Blanche, and her husband, Jake Simon, and their two daughters, Emma and Adele. Also living with them is Jerome and Blanche's father, Jacob Sternberg, who is now a widower, his wife having died in April of 1919.

Jacob now owns an ice cream store and Jerome works there, selling ice cream. Jerome's brother-in-law, Jake Simon, is a retail merchant in a grocery store.

So is spite of the fact that they change businesses frequently, the Sternbergs are still merchants!

Meanwhile, Jerome is still single, and since Ann Lamon, his future wife, is living in a convent in 1920, it's likely he hasn't met her yet. But in 1930, he says he's been married for 9 years, so it must be that he meets her in 1921. I have not been able to find a marriage record for them, however, so we can only speculate.

In 1923, Jerome appears for the first time with a wife (Annie) in the Savannah City Directory. And it also appears that he and his father are in a fruit retail business now, J. Sternberg & Son. Below is a copy of the directory listing.

By this time, Jerome and Ann had their daughter, Ida, and Jerome Jr. was on the way. 

1918: Jerome Sternberg Goes to War

Jerome Sternberg was inducted into the Army on May 6, 1919, a little more than a year after the US entered World War I by declaring war on Germany. Below is a copy of his World War I Service Card that details his time in the Army.

As you can see, he was first assigned to the 157th Depot Brigade, located at Camp Gordon (now Fort Gordon), in Georgia. According to Wikipedia,

The role of the Depot Brigades was to receive and organize recruits, provide them with uniforms, equipment and initial military training, and then send them to France to fight on the front lines. The Depot Brigades also received soldiers returning home at the end of the war and completed their out processing and discharges.[1]

Jerome went from there to Bakery Company 330, where he served overseas from June 10, 1918 to June 26, 1919. He was promoted to PFC in July of 1918. He was discharged on demobilization, July 12, 1919.

Though he was involved in no battles and received no wounds, his role was important to the war effort. Bakery Companies were charged with baking bread for the troops, and while at war, they baked bread in the field. The website SeaBeeCook.com provides this explanation:

According to 1916 edition of the Manual for Army Bakers, the bakery company baked bread for the troops in the field and in garrison. Since the bread ration in 1916 consisted of 18 ounces per man, the company could produce almost 34,000 pounds of garrison bread each day.

In wartime, companies were established at the rate of one per Army division. However, they were not considered as an organic organization within the division. As a unit of the Quartermaster Corps, bakery companies reported to the commander of the line of communications. One or more companies could be located at a permanent or semi-permanent camp to provide bread for nearby troops. If needed, a company could be divided into sections or units to bake bread for smaller troop concentrations. (SeaBeeCook.com)

Below is a YouTube video from the National Archives that shows troops baking bread in France during WWI:

The caption provided by the uploader for this video reads:

National Archives description: "Biscuit dough is rolled, biscuits are punched, and baked bread and biscuits are packed for shipment at Bagnolet, France. Bread dough is mixed, ovens are loaded and unloaded, bread is loaded on trains, and flour is carried from storage rooms into mixing rooms at Dijon, France."  National Archives Identifier 25016

One of the men in this video could have been Jerome Sternberg!

One sad note: Jerome's mother, Ida Rogers Sternberg, died April 18, 1919, only a few months before Jerome returned home from the service.