Person:Bernard Bayer (1)

" Bernard J., the fourth child, was born Nov 19, 1886 and died alone in a cheap hotel room on 11 Jun 1962. We know that Bern was a soldier during World War I. He enlisted 8 Mar 1918 and saw action in Europe. My grandfather said that Uncle Bern was gassed while there. He was a Pfc. in Co. M 318 Infantry. The information about his army career was found on his tombstone. Yet, we have a typed copy of his discharge receipt that shows that on 20 DEC 1922 he paid $90.00 at Fort Howard, Maryland, to purchase his discharge. Bernard worked for the railroad until he retired. He lived for years with his mother. My father remembers him mainly in the period after he retired. He was an active member of the VFW Post 87 and after the sale of the family home, he lived at the post and worked as bartender. He suffered from diabetes and in his early 70's had both legs amputated due to this disease. He was at all three veterans; hospitals in the Pittsburgh area during this time. After the amputations he stayed at several private nursing homes, but he didn't care for them. In fact, on my parents' wedding day, on of the stops they made was to see Uncle Bern. Usually my grandfather was the only one who regularly visited him. My father and his brother world see him when they took grandfather to see his uncle. Finally, Uncle Bern moved into a cheap hotel in downtown Pittsburgh. the side is now a parking garage). He cared for himself, but was restricted to his one room. He died alone on June 11, 1962. When he was found, his body was already beginning to decompose. He was laid out in a closed casket.".......excerpt from Family History by Amy Louis Bayer, 1979

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census. (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2004.Original data - United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900. T623,)
   Year: 1900; Census Place: Pittsburgh Ward 27, Allegheny, Pennsylvania; Roll:  ; Page: ; Enumeration District: .

   Birth date: Nov 1886Birth place: PennsylvaniaResidence date: 1900Residence place: Pittsburgh City, Allegheny, Pennsylvania _APID: 7602::51412880

   http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=sse&db=1900usfedcen&h=51412880&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt