Henry Davis Genther
PFC in 603rd Engineer Camouflage Bn : Co B, HQ Platoon
ASN#33447435
Born 1906 in VA, Died 1963
County of residence at enlistment: Washington, DC
Other residence(s): Fredericksburg, VA; Washington, DC
United States Army, European Theatre of Operations
Occupation before the war: stenographers and typists
College education before the war: 1 year
Henry Genther was born on February 19, 1906 in Fredericksburg, VA, the younger of two children. His father was a harness maker, and Henry's grandfather was a Confederate veteran; he would die in 1926, one of the last remaining Civil War veterans in Virginia.
Henry graduated from Fredericksburg High School in 1924. His yearbook reports that he was a member of the Athletic Association all four years, and offers the following quote about him: "Henry comes very irregularly to school, but when he does honor us with his presence we are very glad to have him. He is not afraid of work, but would rather not be intimately associated with it. If Henry's income is as large as his heart, Rockefeller will envy him."
After high school he moved to Washington, DC where he was working in 1926 as a salesman at department store Woodward & Lothrop.
Sometime in the 1920s, he married Eleanor Abell.
By 1930-1931, the Genthers were living apart, for whatever reason. Henry was working as a tree surgeon, boarding with a family in Hightstown, NJ. Eleanor was still in Washington DC. (She would spend 50 years working at the Office of Management and Budget.)
By 1932, Henry was back in DC as a tree surgeon with National Public Buildings & Parks, and living with Eleanor. The couple divorced a few years later.
Henry registered for the draft on October 16, 1940; at the time he stated that he was working at the Interior Department, Capitol Parks Division. With war pending, he married Florence Louise Coakley on December 5, 1941. He enlisted on October 6, 1942, with his profession categorized as "semi-professional occupation," probably still with Interior. He stated that he had one year of college.
During the war he served with the 603rd Engineer Camouflage Battalion. He was discharged with the rank of PFC, and returned to the capital. In 1948, he was still a tree surgeon with the Interior Department.
He died on May 15, 1963 in Washington and is buried at Fredericksburg Cemetery, Fredericksburg, VA. Since only his sister, and not his wife, is mentioned in his death announcement, it's likely that he and Florence had divorced some time after the war.
Photos
1924 high school yearbook (see below)
Sources:
1910 census
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/177754793:7884?ssrc=pt&tid=1902256&pid=50000258672
1920 census
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/80620056:6061?ssrc=pt&tid=1902256&pid=50000258672
1924 high school yearbook
1926 city directory Washington DC
1926 obituary of his grandfather in the Times-Dispatch (Richmond VA)
https://www.newspapers.com/image/827736678/?terms=henry&match=3
1930 census
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1457803:6224?ssrc=pt&tid=1902256&pid=50000258672
1931 city directory Washington DC (wife's listing)
1934 city directory Washington DC
1940 census
1940 draft card
1941 marriage record
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/77688:61404?ssrc=pt&tid=1902256&pid=50000258672
1942 enlistment record
1963 Find a Grave record
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/75003462/henry-davis-genther