Robert ‘Bob’ and Eva (Korman) Tennis are sharing their life histories with us in this issue.
The ancestors of Bob’s grandfather, Joseph ‘David’ Tennis, came to the United States, settling in Thompsontown. David moved to Sinking Valley to work on the many farms in the area. He met Molly Patton; they married and continued to live in the Valley. They had three children: Oliver, Mary (Black), and William.
Oliver decided against farming and instead worked in Tyrone for Roy Landis as a mechanic. He married Minerva Roberta Beck, of Shingletown. They had six sons: Ralph (1908), Earl (1915, died at age two), Frank (1916, died 1936 from Bright’s disease), Fred (1917), Robert (1921), and Kenneth (1923).
In 1927, Oliver decided he no longer wanted to be married and left his family. Not wanting to accept welfare, Minerva went to work immediately at the nearby United Methodist Home (today Epworth Manor). She served meals in the dining room and cleaned up afterward, paid seventy-five cents a day plus her meals.
Mr. Cummings, a gentleman who lived on 6th St., owned an empty house across the street from his home. He offered the house rent-free for as long as he would live if Minerva in return would do his laundry and housekeeping. The family remained on 6th St. until Mr. Cummings died, then moved to 202 W. 10th St., above Shaffer’s Store.
The Tennis boys attended Washington School, on Park Ave. Bob recalls a large painting of a kneeling George Washington hanging on the wall, donated by A.K. Johnson. During every lunch period at school, Bob’s fourth-grade teacher, Miss Hall, sent him to mail a letter at the railroad station — paid him fifteen cents.
After sixth grade, Bob left school and secured a work permit. He washed dishes at the Methodist home and did odd jobs.
The kids in the neighborhood ice-skated on the Little Juniata River in the winter and swam and fished in it in the summer. There were baseball games, marbles, and a favorite — street hockey. The kids stomped on tin cans so as to wrap them around their shoes. Then they would use wooden sticks to hit a can up and down the street.
Another favorite pastime was playing football, which they often played in the Sheridan Cavalry Troop Armory on Sundays. They liked it there because the ring where the horses ran had loose dirt, which was much softer than the outside dirt when you were tackled.
In the evenings, the local gang often sat on the steps of Shaffer’s Store playing cards, eating grapes — spitting the seeds on the sidewalk. Mr. Shaffer never said a word about the litter. Mr. Shaffer made the statement that as long as those boys were on his steps, no one would try to rob his business.
The boys often hitchhiked to Bland’s Park and back, trying to beat their record of the number of trips in a day — fifteen roundtrips. Local boys who enjoyed these activities were Gershwin Lowery, Bill Welsh, Sam Catich, Joe Shirk, Howard Patterson, and Harry Burket.
While loafing in front of the Farmers & Merchants National Bank, on Pennsylvania Ave., Bob and his friends spent time watching girls. One Sunday evening, as several girls were walking home from the Evangelical United Brethren Church, Bob noticed a special girl whom he had seen before. He stopped the young Korman girl and asked if he could walk her home. Eva said yes, and the romance began.
Eva lived on 1st St. Her parents were William and Vera (Cassidy) Korman. Eva’s first two years of schooling were at the Gypsy Camp School. When that school closed, the Kormans moved to Grazierville. After graduation, Eva worked at McCrory’s Five-and-Ten, then for the Triangle Shoe Store.
Bob lived with his mother in the apartment and worked for the Works Progress Administration (WPA). In 1939, he started working at the Altoona Railroad Shops unloading coal. In 1941, he got a job at the Altoona Roundhouse. He worked there until he was drafted into the military service in 1942.
Bob was sent to the 82nd Airborne in Cumberland, Md. and then on to Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. He was trained to blow up certain targets and to build bridges. Minerva had all four of her sons in the war at the same time — with Ken serving in the Army Air Corps and Ralph in the Navy. Her prayers were answered; all returned home safely.
Bob and Eva were so much in love that they could wait only one month after Bob’s return home to marry. The wedding took place on December 9, 1945 at the First Evangelical Lutheran Church. Following the ceremony, a reception was held at the Lanner Tea Room.
Bob went back to work for the PRR in Altoona in January 1946 at the westbound car shops. His job was to get locomotives ready to go by filling them with coal, sand, water, and ice along with making sure that all the lanterns were in working condition. He also worked in Bellwood, filling the water pans (troughs) positioned along the tracks.
The Tennis family had additions: William Robert in 1947, Vera in 1950, and Mary Jane in 1955. They bought a concrete-block house in Grazierville in 1950 across from the Tyrone Elks Lodge #212.
In 1956, Bob says that he was ordered by his boss at the railroad to lift a very heavy load, resulting in a back injury. He then was forced to retire from the railroad on disability. In 1958, Eva went to work at the Chicago Rivet & Machine Company.
The family bought and moved to a house at 314 E. 10th St. In 1972, the new Rt. 220 Tyrone Bypass took their home. Bob and Eva bought the Study property on 1st St., a few doors up from the car wash in west Tyrone.
Bob became involved in the Sons of the Legion. In 1955, Bob started the Field Day that was held on the grounds of the Tyrone Sportsmen’s Association. Field Days were for young boys to learn about the correct use of firearms. Safety was the most important lesson they learned.
Bob was president of the Legion Home Association for more than twenty years. He also was involved in the Tyrone Masonic Lodge #494 for twenty-three years. Eva still belongs to the Tyrone Chapter #288 Order of the Eastern Star.
Eva retired from the Chicago Rivet in 1977, and in 1982, she and Bob moved one more time to the Pennsylvania House apartments, on Pennsylvania Ave. and 12th St., where they reside today with their dog, Molly.
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