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Robert E. Sirois (1922-1990)

Home...BiographiesRobert E. Sirois (1922-1990)

Robert E. Sirois (1922-1990)

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    1937 LHS freshman class    		 Placeholder
    1937 LHS basketball squad    		 Placeholder
    1940 LHS football squad
The following April 22, 1943, Lowell Tribune article was found on page 3, column 3:

    Cpl. Robert Sirois and Staff Sergt. Clark Turner Meet

    Cpl. Robert Sirois of Shelby, and Staff Sergt. Clark Turner of Lowell, both of whom are stationed with the U.S. air force in North Africa, had an accidental meeting recently and thoroughly enjoyed a few hours of visiting. Both boys are still going strong on the African front.
The following Sept. 21, 1944, Lowell Tribune article was found on page 2 column 1:

    Hold Reunion in Rome, Italy

    A Shelby-Cedar Lake reunion was held in Rome, Italy recently when S/Sgt. Robert Sirois and S/Sgt. Claude "Gabby" Hall of Shelby, met to spend the day together, a letter to Bob's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Earl Sirois, relates. During the day the two Shelby boys met Cpl. Robert Dickerson of Cedar Lake. The boys spent an enjoyable day together and without doubt the residents of southern Lake county received a thorough "going over."
This Lowell Tribune article was found in the March 29, 1945, issue (page 2, column 2):
    Robert Sirois, son of Mr. and Mrs. Earl (Frenchy) Sirois, Shelby, who has been overseas in the aerial troop transport service for the past 32 months, writes his parents that he has advanced another rank to T/Sgt. Sgt. Sirois, engineer on his huge transport, has participated in carrying troops to the scenes of all the major battles from Africa all the way up the Italian peninsula. All the original members of his outfit, including himself, now wear six battle stars as evidence of the part this vital branch of the service has played in the Mediterranean campaign. He can take a 30 day leave but says that after being away from home so long, one month wouldn't be sufficient time to catch up on the things he'd like to do while here, so he plans to hold out until the war is over--and hopes it won't be too long.
This July 5, 1945, Lowell Tribune article was found on page 4, column 2:
    The following is taken from "Box Car Bulletin" published by 62nd Troop Carrier Group in the European theatre, telling of one of the crews, of which T/Sgt. Robert E. Sirois, Shelby, is a member, flying an iron lung from Pisa, Italy to Bari:
      "At 9:30 last Tuesday night Group Operations received a telephone call from MATS to send a plane on an emergency mission to Pisa to pick up an iron lung and rush it to Bari. A life was at stake, and everything had to be done as fast as possible.
      "A plane was set up by Capt. Jack E. McKee, Group Operations officer, who was on duty that night and all the minor details were finished in an hour's time. The Captain elected to fly the mission himself.
      "The crew (T/Sgt. Robert E. Sirois and Sgt. Charles A. Gaines) was routed out of bed and everything was set except for a co-pilot. Lt. A.J. Thomas, Headquarters, was found and selected as co-pilot on the mission of mercy.
      "At 10:45 the ship arrived at Pisa and the 'lung' was rushed up to the waiting aircraft. After two hours and 45 minutes of flying the plane, 'lung' and all arrived safely at Bari.
      "Another life was saved by Troop Carrier aircraft."
The following article from an unidentified newspaper was found in Town Historian Richard Schmal's obituary collection:
    Robert E. Sirois, age 67, of Cincinnati, Ohio, formerly of Shelby, passed away Fri., Jan. 5, 1990, in Cincinnati, after a lengthy illness. He is survived by his wife, Margaret Schmutte Sirois; his mother, Fern Sirois of Plymouth; two sons, David Sirois of Houston, Tex., and Richard (Linda) Sirois of Durham, N.C.; one daughter, Sandra (Stephen) Sirois- Schwering of Cincinnati; two grandchildren, Nicole Sirois of Durham and Mitchell Schwering of Cincinnati; one brother, Leon "Jigger" Sirois of Yorkville, Va.; and two sisters, Eleanor (Waldo) Bartz of Shelby and Margaret (Richard) Hayden of Plymouth. Funeral services were held at 10 a.m. Jan. 8 at the Elden A. Good Funeral Home in Cincinnati, with Rev. Wilson H. Willard, Jr., officiating. Following cremation, interment took place at Arlingron National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. Born Sept. 9, 1922, in Shelby, Robert Sirois was the son of Earl and Fern Sirois. A graduate of Lowell High School, he served four years in the U.S. Air Force during World War II, reaching the rank of technical sergeant. He was married to Margaret Schmutte on Oct. 3, 1946, and they lived for many years in Shelby, where they operated a chinchilla farm. For five years, they lived in Greece while he operated a fur dressing business, and then moved to Cincinnati in 1977. He worked as an apartment manager in Cincinnati. Memberships included the American Legion and the Lions Club.
Last updated on September 22, 2005.

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