Robert Gerwig

ROBERT (BOB) GERWIG died of cancer on Monday, October 20, 2014, at the age of 96. He was predeceased by his loving wife of 67 years, Jean Carroll Gerwig, who died in 2012, at the age of 94. Bob is survived by his son, Robert Carroll Gerwig, of Atlanta, and by his wife's nieces and nephews, James and Jane Hart, of Waycross; Carroll Whitley, of Tucker, and Al and Jan Whittle, of Lakeland, Florida, and also by the family cat, Lucky.
Bob was born in New York City on November 9, 1917, the only child of Robert V. Gerwig and Anna Moritz Gerwig. Bob led an interesting young life, living in various sections of New York and going to different schools. Bob and his father, who was a NYC policeman and later plain-clothes detective, shared an interest in boxing (listening to Jack Dempsey fights on the radio) and baseball (following Babe Ruth and the New York Yankees).
After graduating from high school in 1936, Bob became a trainee-employee of The Master Reporting Company which was in the verbatim shorthand reporting business. The business was not limited to court reporting, but also included verbatim recording of conventions, conferences, seminars, lectures, political campaign speeches and other events. In the course of his employment, Bob covered President and Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt (on separate occasions), former President Herbert Hoover, Nelson Rockefeller, a youthful Orson Welles, and Cardinal Francis J. Spellman (with Bob perched on a fire escape to record the Cardinal's remarks at a housing complex).
In early 1942, shortly after World War II began, Bob enlisted in the United States Army and then began a military and later civilian affiliation that lasted for 41 years. From the time of his enlistment until early 1945, Bob was stationed mainly at Fort Stewart in southeast Georgia, where he served in the office of the Staff Judge Advocate as a court reporter and general administrator, and eventually was promoted to the rank of Chief Warrant Officer. In the summer of 1945, Bob was transferred to the Philippines where, among other duties, he served as the reporter at the surrender ceremony of the Japanese armed forces in the Philippines at which ceremony the principal Japanese officer was General Tomoyuki Yamashita, who was called "The Tiger of Malaya" and was later executed for war crimes. On May 12, 1945, shortly before his transfer to the Philippines, Bob married Jean Carroll, of Waycross, thus becoming not his "wartime pal" but instead his "lifetime partner," as described by Bob in his "A Memoir of Sorts." Bob was discharged in 1946, after having been awarded the Philippine Liberation Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Theater Medal, American Theater Medal and the WWII Victory Medal.
Following his discharge from the Army, Bob continued his employment with the Army in a civilian capacity, primarily at Fort McPherson in Atlanta, until his retirement in 1983. He began his career as an administrative assistant in the Office of Staff Judge Advocate with the understanding that he would seek the qualifications to become a licensed attorney. Bob earned his LL.B degree (the equivalent of the present J.D.) at Atlanta Law School in 1948 and a Master's degree (LL.M.) at John Marshall Law in 1949, and was admitted to the State Bar of Georgia in 1949. Never having attained an undergraduate degree, Bob continued his education by earning a B.B.A. in 1954, from the Atlanta Division of the University of Georgia (now Georgia State University). After admission to the State Bar, Bob's official position in the SJA office became Attorney-Advisor, and his particular duty was to function as the principal civilian attorney for Military Affairs. As a practical matter, Bob handled both military and civilian matters and also became a prolific author of articles in law journals. Bob received various awards during his career, including the 1976 Federal Employee of the Year Award for the Atlanta area, but the accolade that was most meaningful to him was in a letter from a former Army Judge Advocate General who characterized Bob as "one of the most prolific and illuminating writers on military law."
Bob was involved with numerous non-profit organizations, of which Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church and Kiwanis Club of Druid Hills were the primary two. Bob and his wife Jean joined Glenn Memorial in 1947, and over the many subsequent years, Bob actively served the church on various boards, committees, commissions, and classes (principally the Judson C. Ward Class). After the death of his wife Jean in 2012, Bob established the Jean Carroll Gerwig Fund at the church. Bob joined the Kiwanis Club in 1960 and eventually was honored with life membership status. He and his wife Jean (and occasionally their son Robert) traveled to many of the International Conventions held in the eastern United States and Canada.
A memorial service will be held on Wednesday, October 29, at 11:00 AM (with visitation at 10:00 AM) in the chapel of A.S. Turner & Sons, with the Reverend Dr. Alice Rogers and the Reverend Susan Pinson officiating. In lieu of flowers, tribute donations may be made to Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church, for the Jean Carroll Gerwig Fund, or to the Kiwanis Club of Druid Hills, or to the charity of your choice. A. S. Turner & Sons Funeral Home and Crematory.



Funeral Home:
A.S. Turner
2773 N. Decatur Road
Decatur, GA
30033