The Ford Family

Born	March 15, 1892 Rockford
Died	August, 1974 Aurora Colorado
Father	Wenceslaus Wenzel Schrom
Mother	Thekla Schrom
Siblings	Henry Schrom Minnie Weldon Bertha Schrom Albert James Schrom Tillie Marie Schrom George Gottlieb Schrom Frank Joseph Schrom Edward Schrom Arthur Otto Schrom Theodore James Schrom

Spouse	Jessie Schrom
Children	Robert Clayton Schrom

Bio
Fred Schrom was the second last child in the large Schrom family. Born in 1892, he is just 2 years younger than the twins Ed and Arthur and a year older than baby brother Teddy. You can imagine these four boys being close and quite the handful for their immigrant parents.

It was likely a tough childhood. His father's dream to make it as a farmer in Wisconsin has died and Fred's family has moved south to the city of Rockford where there are jobs. His father becomes a Saloon keeper for while. In 1900, when he is 8, his mother dies of TB. Then 2 years later, sister Tillie dies. Tragedy strikes again when sister Bertha dies, two years after Tillie, when Fred is 12.

The men stick together as best they can. Wenzel, Frank, Fred, Ed, Ted and Arthur all find jobs and Frank learns to cook at a restaurant. At 19, Frank gets married and brings his young bride home to live with all of them. He will soon start a restaurant and they will all follow him into the business.

By the time he is 25, Fred has married a gal named Jessie and they get a place of their own. He gets a clerk position working for Emerson. Before long they have a son they name Robert Clayton. Fred eventually ends up working for Frank at his restaurant. Before he knows it, Fred's only child is grown and enlists to go off and fight in WWII. So Fred and Jessie move to Chicago and work in the restaurant business.

The war ends and Bob returns home and ends up marrying a girl in California. You guessed it, Fred and Jessie move to California too! We can't be sure if Fred ever becomes a grandfather, but we know his son goes off to fight in Korea, and then again to Vietnam. It is interesting to note that Fred traveled from Hickam Air force base in Hawaii to Enewetak Atoll (Marshall Islands) twice - once on May 7th of 1955 and once on February 28th 1956. Why?

We don't know why. He was either traveling by plane or boat with a number of other civilians. During this time, the United States was conducting a series of nuclear tests in this area. Was he going to visit his son? If so, why twice in a span of 9 months? Was Bob involved in the testing....was Bob getting sick from the testing? I speculate only because Bob dies young at the age of 54. His dedicated father died just four years later.