NEWS: Tribute to Robert E. BLACK, died 1944, native of Somerset County, PA

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ROBERT E. BLACK

A Tribute to a Fellow Townsman, Friend and Neighbor by Mrs. A. G. Boughner

  How strange it is that death, that ancient, common, inescapable thing brings 
with it so fresh a mystery and shock every time it comes!  Even when we know it 
is close by.  But when death comes as a "thief in the night" and strikes 
quickly, the shock is numbing.
  The telephone rang on Monday afternoon (June 26th) about 3 o'clock.  I picked 
up the receiver and a voice said; "Bob Black passed away a half hour ago."
  "You can't mean it," I said.  "Why I saw him Saturday, and he looked fine."
  Another said: "Why I saw him this morning driving his car."  We couldn't 
believe it, but it was only too true.
  Genial "Bob" with his infectuous smile!  We will never meet on our streets 
again.  But our memory eyes will see him, in the bank, in his office, in the 
store, or on the street.  Our memories may get mellow, but thank God, they never 
die!
  Robert Emson Black was born in Confluence, December 7, 1881, the son of the 
late Virgil and Mary (Pullin) Black.  He descended from a Somerset County 
pioneer family.  He grew to boyhood in the way all happy village boys do.  He 
was fond of sports, especially baseball, and played many a hard fought game on 
the sand lot.  He never lost his love for the sport.  He graduated from the 
Confluence schools and attended West Virginia University.  Later he accepted a 
position with Armour & Company in Akron, Ohio, but was called home to assist his 
father in the stoneware business - B. F. Sloan, Mr. Black's best helper having 
died.
  Some time afterward he accepted the position of assistant cashier in the First 
National Bank of Confluence.  He remained in that capacity for 27 years.  At the 
death of the late Earl Beggs, he purchased his insurance business which he 
conducted up to the time of his death.
  November 6th, 1918, he married Miss Sue Williams of Norfolk, Va.  He is 
survived by his wife and one daughter, Virginia.  He is also survived by two 
sisters: Mrs. Reeves Hill of Hagerstown, Maryland, and Mrs. M. M. Brooke of 
Confluence, a brother, Herbert Black, of New York City, and three nieces, Mrs. 
John Boothe, Pearl River, N.Y.; Mrs. Joseph Lemon, Hagerstown, Md., and Miss 
Eleanor Brooke, Confluence.
  Robert E. Black was an asset to the town and his passing will be keenly felt.  
He had hosts of friends in town and throughout the countryside.  He was loyal to 
his town and interested in its advancement.  He joined the Methodist Church of 
Confluence when a boy and at the time of his death was a trustee.  He was 
president of the First National Bank of Confluence, and also president of the 
Lion's Club.  For 27 years he had been borough treasurer.  He was a member of 
the Masonic Order.
  Robert E. Black meant a great deal to the town, and anyone who knew "Bob" 
knows that the town meant a great deal to him.  A sterling citizen has passed.

Meyersdale Republican, July 6, 1944