Robert Ross “Buddy” Egnew graduated from John Crier High School at Hoopeston, Illinois in 1940 and enlisted in the Navy that Oct. 15th.

He was a seaman first class on the U.S.S. Arizona when he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.

Buddy was born May 20, 1920 at Danville, Illinois, to Roscoe “Ross” Egnew, the owner of a Chevrolet dealership, and Inez Brill Egnew, a homemaker. She died when her son was 16. The boy worked at the business, located in Hoopeston, for six years after school and during vacations.

VFW Post 4826 in Hoopeston, which is in east central Illinois, is named in his memory. There’s also a cenotaph in his memory at Floral Hill Cemetery in Hoopeston.

Sources: Census; Navy enlistment records and muster roll; Illinois death record; VFW; cemetery marker. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.