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ROBERT N. CRONK, 1st Person Born in US in 1924
ROBERT N. CRONK - 1ST PERSON BORN IN AMERICA IN 1924.
D.O.B.: January 1, 1924 (Five Seconds After Midnight)- Savannah , GA
D.O.D.: October 12, 2008 (Suicide) Tampa, FL (84 years of age).
On January 1st of each year, in virtually every large city, and most small cities, across the United States of America, tradition has it that the first person born in each of those cities in the New Year be recognized, and quite often rewarded. The rewards are often in the form of gifts from various merchants, but sometimes include free doctor and hospital charges. The events are almost always mentioned in the daily newspapers.
But of all the cities and towns in the United States who honor their firstborn each year, one of these thousands of babies, the one born before all others, is to become THE FIRST PERSON BORN IN THE ENTIRE UNITED STATES in their birthyear. THIS IS A RARE HONOR INDEED.
Since the inception of the United States in the year 1776, there have been just 232 persons (as of the year 2008) who were actually one of the first babies born in the United States in their birth year.
One of that small group of select individuals is ROBERT N. CRONK, first person born within the United States in the year 1924. The chance of being the first person born in the United States in any given year is estimated to be about 1 in 3,000,000. Being struck by lightning is estimated to be about 1 in 650,000 each year. That means the odds of being struck by lightning are FIVE TIMES MORE LIKELY than being a first born American.
Robert N. Cronk was born in Savannah, GA, on January 1, 1924, at exactly FIVE SECONDS AFTER MIDNIGHT, which means he was born in the FIRST one-twelfth of the FIRST minute of the FIRST hour of the FIRST day of the FIRST week of the FIRST month of the YEAR 1924.
On New Year's day, in the year 2008, Robert N. Cronk became eighty-four years old. During his lifetime, he has seen a very large number of major changes, such as the inventions of television , the atom bomb and the computer
This famous American was born in St. Joseph's hospital in Savannah, to his parents, James Augustine Cronk, Sr. and Gertrude Janie MacDONELL Cronk, both of whom were native-born Savannahians. Fourthborn, he had four siblings, two sisters (Gertrude and Margaret) and two brothers (James, Jr. and Roderick)
Robert was just twelve years old when his beloved mother died from cancer at the early age of 39.
By the time he reached eighteen years of age, our country was busily engaged in World War II. Robert volunteered for service in the United States Army Air Force, and served three years in that branch during the war, fifteen months of which were served in England in the 398th Bombardment Group, comprised of B-17 bombers. He worked in the Group Engineering and Armament Office (Group Headquarters) as senior N.C.O., having attained the rank of sergeant.
During his 30 day R & R leave on his return to the United States, Robert met his wife-to-be, Inez STEED, and they married less than two months after they met. Robert and Inez produced two extremely intelligent and good looking children (Robert, Jr. and Shirley), each of whom produced two children of their own, giving Robert and Inez four grandchildren.
Robert N. Cronk had many accomplishments during his ongoing sixty-three years of marriage to Inez.
He became a Private Pilot, and flew airplanes for thirty-three years, until his retirement in 1981. Over two hundred persons took their first airplane ride with Robert at the controls.
In 1948, he became a U. S. Mail Carrier, and about that same time he worked part-time as a radio announcer during the hey-days of radio. For approximately nine years (in Jacksonville, Miami, and Tampa, Florida) his specialty was Country and Western, going by the name "Bob Norwood", which was his middle name.
Eight years later, Robert transfered from the Post Office to the U. S. Customs Service, working first as a Deputy Collector of Customs in the Entry Division (imported merchandise), and the remainder as a Customs Inspector.
After retirement, with over thirty-six years of Government Service, Robert persued many interests. In order to qualify for Social Security (not earned with the Government), he worked five years at a funeral home doing tasks consisting of almost every aspect of the business except preparation for burial and making funeral arrangements.
He wrote a Family Tree book of 900 pages (mother's family), and also a book called "The Disintegration of the Soviet Union", another book of 900 pages. Later he wrote his Autobiography, then another book called "A Guide To Better English", and yet another Family Tree book (father's family), 250 pages.
Having obtained an electronic organ, he taught himself how to play. He composed four songs, only one of which has words, all of which remain unpublished.
He has also composed a piece of poetry which is a tribute to his wife, Inez, titled "An Ode to My Wife". In addition, he composed another poem called "My Roots", which was placed in both of his family tree books. Another poem, written by Robert when he was just twelve or thirteen years old, is titled "My Mother". To read these poems, click on "The Poems of Robert N. Cronk" at end of this page.
In the interim, Robert constructed crossword puzzles, and in fact placed them in doctor's offices waiting rooms on a regular basis.
Now living in Tampa, FL, with his wife Inez, he is still active (at eighty-four years of age) He loves to attend Garage Sales, usually making friends with the vendors.
Because Robert N. Cronk was the first person born in the United States in 1924, his name appears in a number of websites (over 200), some headquartered in many countries around the world. Some of these websites are listed for that event under page marked "Links To Websites" at end of this page.
This thumb-nail description of Robert N. Cronk will give you some idea of his life. For a more detailed account, click on the link below named "The Complete Autobiography of Robert N. Cronk".
In July 2005, Robert was diagnosed as having colon cancer This was confirmed by a colonoscopy. Later that month Robert underwent surgery to remove the cancerous growth. Doctors removed his gall bladder and a portion of his intestines,and he was then declared cancer free.
But it seems that was just the start of his medical prolems that year. On December 20, 2005 (Just one week before Christmas), Robert suffered a stroke which, even though it was a mild one, left certain impairments to his health. Supposedly, his right carotid artery was blocked from which, it is thought, caused the stroke. To prevent future recurrences, he was operated on again in February 2006, to remove the blockage in his neck artery.
He is still slowly recuperating, but is expected to bear some effects of the stroke for the rest of his life.
At the present time, he is battling cancer of the prostate and liver and is home under the care of hospice.
Famous Firsts in Savannah, GA
The Poems of Robert N. Cronk
Books Written by Robert N. Cronk
The Complete Autobiography of Robert N. Cronk
Links to Websites Listing Robert N. Cronk
Letters from Gov. Bush & Geo H. W. Bush
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