Arthur Ray Wagner – First Sergeant, United States Army

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Arthur Ray Wagner was born on November 25, 1893 at Lykens (Dauphin County), Pennsylvania, the son of Ferdinand and Elizabeth Moser Wagner. In his youth, the family moved to Pottsville, Pennsylvania, where he attended High School in 1907-09. He left school after the tenth grade in order to work on the family farm. From 1909-12, he continued to help his father with the farm until June 1914 while working in the mines of the Pennsylvania Coal Company, where he was employed in cutting and loading coal.

From June 1914 until May 1922, he served with the United States Army in Europe, the United States and the Philippine Islands as a First Sergeant. He was in charge of about 150 men in an ordnance company, operating all kinds of machine shop trucks and other equipment, and generating power for lights and with which to operate lathes, drill presses and grinders. He received an honorable discharge at the end of his service in May 1922.

From 1922 to 1925, he was in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as a flagman for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. From 1925 to September 1931, he worked at Curtis Publishing Company, Philadelphia, as a printer. From September 1931 to March 1938 he owned and operated a General Store in French Lick, Indiana, and from April 1938 to December 1941 he owned an apartment house in Washington, D.C.

In December 1941, he joined the FWAPBAA (Federal Workers Administration) in Washington, D.C. as an electrician. Until February 1951, he was employed by Region 3, General Services Administration.

He was married twice, first to Olive Wagner and then to Pearl Thomas Wagner, who was born on May 5, 1907 in Harlan County, Kentucky. The second marriage took place in June 1938 in Williamsburg, Kentucky. They thereafter resided in Crownsville, Maryland, with their children, Harley Wagner (March 12, 1936), Jean Wagner (March 18, 1939), Charlie Arthur Wagner (August 4, 1943), and Margaret Gail Wagner (October 1, 1948).

Wagner died of a heart attack following three days of treatment at the Fort Howard Veterans Administration Hospital. He was buried in Section 12, Grave 4081, Arlington National Cemetery.

Submited by a loving granddaughter, Shardon Bodet, October 12, 1997.

WAGNER, ARTHUR R

  • 1ST SGT 83RD ORD CO ORD DEPT USA
  • VETERAN SERVICE DATES: Unknown
  • DATE OF BIRTH: 11/25/1893
  • DATE OF DEATH: 02/16/1951
  • DATE OF INTERMENT: 02/19/1951
  • BURIED AT: SECTION 12  SITE 4081
  • ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

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