The Proeger Family · Generation 3 — Earl's grandparents

Earl Theodore Roberts

Step-grandfather · 1918–2007

Sepia photograph of Earl Theodore Roberts, head and shoulders, in a Navy khaki shirt and a Navy officer's peaked cap with its eagle badge, standing on the deck of USS Wexford County beside a ladder and a steel bulkhead, 1958
Open the full photograph

Earl Theodore Roberts

Confirmed

Step-grandfather · 1918–2007

Earl Theodore Roberts aboard USS Wexford County (LST-1168), Pearl Harbor, 1958, from the hand-written label on the original print. Family photograph supplied by Earl Proeger.

Born
7 May 1918, Windsor, Massachusetts
Died
26 February 2007
Parents
Leon Henry Roberts
Married
Aileane Marie Silva
Children
Kathy Roberts
Sources
20
Images
8

Life in the order the records give it

Birth1918
Born 7 May 1918, Windsor, Massachusetts S88 S299
Death2007
Died 26 February 2007 S88
Military1938
Military service — U.S. Navy, 1938 to after 1960.
  • Pay-entry base date 17 August 1938, which dates his first enlistment S266. The 1940 census, taken 15 June 1940 at his parents' farm in Hancock, Massachusetts, gives Earl, 22, as U.S. Navy; his brother Almon was in the U.S. Army S274
  • Enlisted 17 August 1938 at Springfield, Massachusetts, service number 212 50 12 S301
  • Second World War, Pacific. He was a plankowner of the destroyer USS Anderson (DD-411), joining her when she was commissioned in May 1939 and serving in her until August 1942 as ship's cook first class. That took him through the battles of the Coral Sea and Midway S302 Confirmed. Earl Proeger's account is that he fought in the Pacific S300
  • August 1942: sent to the Commissary Steward School, San Diego; re-enlisted 19 September 1942. On USS LST-455 from 27 February 1943 S303, and chief commissary steward on her by June 1944 S312
  • The galley story. In his obituary's words, when enemy dive bombers wrecked his destroyer's galley he fed the crew with the blacksmith's forge and a welder's torch S299. USS Anderson's recorded history for his time aboard shows no such attack, so the ship and the battle of this story are unidentified
  • 1950: Armed Forces, living at 219C Brush St, Alameda, beside the Naval Air Station S215
  • Guam, after the war. A family scrapbook page is captioned “May 1956 Guam Earl & Kathie”. Earl Proeger says he was stationed there as an officer and that Bill went through high school on Guam in those years S300. His stepdaughters Nancy and Patty Proeger were at George Washington High School, Guam, in 1954–55 S311, and his stepson Bill was a freshman there, enrolled as “B. Roberts” S313
  • Chief Warrant Officer W-4 from 1 February 1958 (Navy Register 1960, p. 664) S266. In 1958 he served aboard USS Wexford County (LST-1168) at Pearl Harbor, according to the handwritten caption on a family photograph
  • Served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. Retired as CWO-4 to National City, California, and is honoured by a plaque at the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial, La Jolla S299
  • Not yet found: his ships between mid-1944 and 1958, the Guam unit and its dates, and his retirement date
Residence
One child: Kathy Roberts (living) S24
Census1930
In 1930, aged 11, at Hancock, Massachusetts, with his parents Leon H. and Bessie H. Roberts S214. In 1950 he was in the Armed Forces, at 219C Brush St, Alameda, with Aileane and her three children S215

Family parents, marriages, children, siblings

Marriage1946
Third husband of Aileane Marie Silva, married 8 February 1946, Los Angeles S88
Parents
Stepfather to William Leonard Proeger, not biological father S24
Parents1882
His father, Leon Henry Roberts, was born 14 July 1882 at Lowell, Vermont, and was living at Ryegate in 1900 with his parents Henry and Delina and his brothers Theodore, Homer and Elmer S340. He was farming at Windsor, Mass. in 1918 S337 and on Main Road, Hancock, in 1942 S338, and he died at Hancock on 4 May 1961 S339. Leon's first wife, Grace May Avery, drowned on 5 July 1908, a year after their wedding S341. Earl's sister Bernice Louise Roberts married Charles Jay McDonald at Williamstown on 30 August 1940 S342

Open questions what is probable, weak or missing — confirm or correct it

Open question
⚠ No relation to Anna Blanche Roberts
different Roberts family S88

Photos & documents 0 photos · 8 documents

Documents (8)

Documents · 8 page images all documents

Retrieved from the UNT Libraries' Portal to Texas History, or — for the University of Texas Cactus yearbooks — from Texas ScholarWorks. Each thumbnail opens the full page scan, which can also be downloaded. The quoted text is the OCR that ships with the scan, copied verbatim; the page image is the authority.

In the record Generation 3 — Earl's grandparents

Earl Theodore Roberts · Sources

Citations

Sources cited on this card

20 of the record's sources are cited here. The numbering is the record's own; the full list, with where else each is cited, is at Sources.

  1. S24Family testimony — Earl Proeger, September 2026. Stated directly by the family and recorded on their word. Covers: the Silva maiden name and William Harry Proeger as his father's father (both of which record research had already reached independently); and, on Kristin's side, her father Thomas Caffey — raised in Austin, University of Texas, died at Austin — and her mother Lavonne Walker, Walker being her maiden name. Not a document. No record has been retrieved for any of the Caffey or Walker statements, no dates were supplied for either person, and none has been estimated. Carried throughout as Family testimony, never as Confirmed. Superseded in part on 13 September 2026: the Thomas Caffey statements are now carried on records instead — see S31–S35. The Lavonne Walker statements still rest on this source alone. Extended 17 September 2026: the family further states that she was born Walker, married a Caffey and divorced, then married a Danielson who has since died — which is why her photographs are captioned Danielson. It matches the Caffey obituary's "former wife, LaVonne Danielson" [S31] independently. Her present surname and her widowhood rest on this testimony alone; the second husband's given name, and every date and place attached to that marriage, were not supplied and are not published. Extended 22 September 2026 (eyewitness): Earl was present at the birth of his half-brother John Jacob “Jacob” Proeger, born in 1994 to William Leonard Proeger and Briana Castro Proeger; Earl states the birth was one month before his own wedding ceremony with Kristin, which was held on Guam (the marriage itself was registered in Travis County; see the next entry). No birth record has been retrieved. Extended 22 September 2026 (Earl’s own account of his marriage): “Kristin and I married on Guam in a ceremony but registered our marriage in Travis County […] and we could marry without swearing, a scruple we held as Quakers and which Guam had no accommodation for.” The only date held is the Travis County registration, 1994, from the Texas Marriage Index [S2]; the date of the Guam ceremony was not supplied and is not published.
  2. S88Earl Theodore Roberts and Aileane Proeger — Los Angeles County marriage record, 8 February 1946. California, County Marriages, 1849–1957 (FamilySearch collection 1804002), page 30, digital folder 005698721, microfilm 2115501, image 2924; ARKs 1:1:K8KQ-X2F (groom) and 1:1:K8KQ-X2V (bride). Retrieved 16 September 2026. Both parties aged 27; the groom's parents are named as Leon H Roberts and Bessie H Henderson; the bride is indexed under her first married name, Proeger, with her parents as "Lank" [Frank] Silva and Mildred Ross [Rose]. It does two jobs. It replaces a family tree as the authority for Aileane's third marriage, and it is the only record that names Earl Theodore Roberts's own parents — which is how this page can state that he is no relation to the Anna Blanche Roberts in the generation above. Two unrelated Roberts families sit on this tree. ⚠️ She is indexed in February 1946 as Proeger, not as Parliman, though the Parliman marriage of 31 May 1943 came first [S51] — an oddity of the index, recorded and not explained.
  3. S2141930 U.S. Federal Census — Leon H. Roberts household, Hancock, Berkshire County, Massachusetts. Ancestry record 16461703; ED 2-19, sheet 1B. Read from the image at full resolution, 22 September 2026. Leon H. Roberts, 47, born Vermont, teamster in the lumber woods; Bessie H., 39; Leora C. 19, Almon [Elmon?] E. 14, Earl T. 11, born Massachusetts, Bernice L. 8, Leon H. Jr. 1, and a grandson Arthur L., an infant. 🔑 Earl Theodore Roberts at eleven with his parents [S197].
  4. S2151950 U.S. Federal Census — Earl T. Roberts household, 219C Brush St, Alameda, California. Ancestry record 265156503; ED 59-37, sheet 17. Read from the image at full resolution, 22 September 2026. Earl T. Roberts, 32, born Massachusetts, Armed Forces; Aileane, 31; Nancy A. 13, Patricia E. 11 and William [L.] 9, enumerated as Roberts. 🔑 Aileane's three Proeger children in their stepfather's household. ⚠ All three are entered as born California; the site keeps its own birthplaces.
  5. S266U.S., Select Military Registers, 1862-1985 — Earl Theodore Roberts. Ancestry record 113449; p. 664. Read from the image at full resolution, 22 September 2026. Navy Register 1960, p. 664: Earl Theodore Roberts, Chief Warrant Officer W-4 from 1 Feb 1958; b. 7 May 1918; pay-entry base date 17 Aug 1938.
  6. S2741940 United States Federal Census — Leon Roberts household. Ancestry record 89791414. Read from the image at full resolution, 22 September 2026. 1940 census, Hancock, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts, sheet 4B: Leon Roberts, farmer, with Bessie and sons Leon H., Almon (U.S. Army) and Earl (U.S. Navy).
  7. S299“Earl T. Roberts 1918–2007” — The Star-News (Chula Vista, Calif.), 9 March 2007, p. 7. Illustrated obituary with a uniform portrait; image contributed to Ancestry by a member (cduarte192) and read from the image, 22 September 2026. Chief Warrant Officer CW-4, U.S. Navy; service in World War II, Korea and Vietnam; when enemy dive bombers wrecked his destroyer's galley he fed the crew using the blacksmith's forge and a welder's torch; a plaque honours him at the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial, La Jolla. Born 7 May 1918, Windsor, Mass.; retired to National City. ⚠ The obituary does not name the destroyer, the action or the year. It lists William Proeger of Austin as “a son”; he was Earl Roberts's stepson.
  8. S300Family testimony — Earl Proeger, 23 September 2026. Recorded on his word: his step-grandfather Earl Theodore Roberts fought in the Pacific in the Second World War and was stationed on Guam as an officer after the war, and Earl's father Bill (William Leonard Proeger) went through high school on Guam while he was posted there. Not yet matched to a service record. A family scrapbook page captioned “May 1956 Guam” supports the Guam posting; the high-school years are Earl's account alone so far.
  9. S301U.S., World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938–1949 — Naval Training Station, Newport, R.I., report of changes, May 1939. Ancestry collection 1143, record 141030331 (NARA RG 24). Read from the image, 23 September 2026. Roberts, Earl Theodore, service no. 212 50 12, apprentice seaman (Sea2c); enlisted 17 August 1938, Springfield, Mass.; received 12 May 1939 and transferred 16 May 1939 to the receiving station, New York, “for USS Anderson detail”. The enlistment date matches the pay-entry base date in the Navy Register (S266). The service number is what separates him from several other Earl T. Roberts on the rolls.
  10. S302U.S., World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938–1949 — USS Anderson (DD-411), report of changes, Pearl Harbor, 17 August 1942. Ancestry collection 1143, record 19286774 (NARA RG 24). Read from the image, 23 September 2026. Earl Theodore Roberts, 212 50 12, ship's cook first class (SC1c); transferred 16 August 1942 to the Commissary Steward School, Naval Training Station, San Diego. The destroyer USS Anderson was commissioned in May 1939, the month he was sent to her, so he was one of her first crew (a plankowner). He served in her until August 1942, through the battles of the Coral Sea and Midway.
  11. S303U.S., World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938–1949 — USS LST-455, report of changes, San Francisco, 31 March 1943. Ancestry collection 1143, record 36325596, image 32861_250626-00030 (NARA RG 24). Read from the image, 23 September 2026. Earl Theodore Roberts, 212 50 12, SC1c; re-enlisted 19 September 1942 at San Diego; received aboard 27 February 1943 from the receiving station, San Diego. The index lists him on LST-455's rolls through 30 June 1944 (see S312).
  12. S311George Washington High School yearbook, Guam, 1955. Internet Archive classmates-yearbook-37313-1955-george-washington-high-school (Classmates.com no. 37313). Page 80, senior portraits, read from the image, 23 September 2026: “NANCY A. PROEGER — Transfer 54 from AHS, Asteria [sic, Astoria], Oregon; Junior Class Secretary 3.” A club-photo caption reading “P. Proeger” (Patty) comes from the OCR text only and has not been checked against the image, so it is Probable. “Mr. Roberts” in this book is John O. Roberts, a social-studies teacher from Kirkwood, Missouri. He is not Earl T. Roberts. Bill Proeger is in the 1955 volume as the freshman “B. Roberts” S313. He has not been found in the 1956 volume.
  13. S312U.S., World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938–1949 — USS LST-455, muster roll of the crew, quarter ending 30 June 1944, p. 3. Ancestry collection 1143, record 36330586, image 32861_250626-00180 (NARA RG 24). Read from the image, 23 September 2026, matching the service number. Roberts, Earl Theodore, 212 50 12, CCS(PA) (chief commissary steward, permanent appointment); enlisted 19 September 1942; first received on board 27 February 1943. Between March 1943 (S303) and June 1944 he was promoted from ship's cook first class to chief petty officer. His ships after mid-1944 are not yet traced.
  14. S313George Washington High School yearbook, Guam, 1955 — freshman class photograph. Internet Archive classmates-yearbook-37313-1955-george-washington-high-school (Classmates.com no. 37313). Page 29, lower freshman photograph, read from the image, 23 September 2026. Front row, fourth from left, captioned “B. Roberts”. Identified as William Leonard “Bill” Proeger by his son Earl Proeger, 23 September 2026. He was enrolled under his stepfather's surname. The 1950 census also lists him as William Roberts. The yearbook's “Mr. Roberts”, the teacher John O. Roberts, is unrelated.
  15. S337U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917–1918 — Leon Henry Roberts. Ancestry record 19321462. Image examined, read 24 September 2026. Confirmed Registered 12 Sep 1918, serial 2346, Local Board Div. 2, Adams, Mass. Leon Henry Roberts, 36, born 14 July 1882; farmer, self-employed, at Windsor, Mass.; nearest relative Mrs Bessie Hill Roberts, Dalton. Signed in his own hand. The index's “Berrie” is Bessie, and its “North Adams” is the board's stamp, not his residence. His own statement of the birth date.
  16. S338U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 — Leon Henry Roberts. Ancestry record 6636572. Image examined, read 24 September 2026. Confirmed Serial U-1910. Leon Henry Roberts, 59, born 14 July 1882, Lowell, Vermont; residence Main Road, Hancock, Berkshire Co., Mass.; self-employed; contact Mrs Bessie H. Roberts. Front of card only. The 1942 registration of men aged 45–64, not military service.
  17. S339Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records — Hancock deaths 1961, no. 2, Leon Henry Roberts. Ancestry record 6851715. Image examined, read 24 September 2026. Confirmed Leon Henry Roberts, farmer, of Hancock, died 4 May 1961 at Hancock, aged 78 y 10 m 10 d; born Lowell, Vt.; father Henry Roberts (b. Westford, Vt.), mother Delina Deblois (b. Fairfax, Vt.); cause ruptured aneurysm of the abdominal aorta; buried Hancock Cemetery. This register settles the death as 4 May; the Find a Grave index (S304) has 24 May. His condition is entered as “S”, and the clerk's age points to 24 June 1882; his own draft card (S337) and the 1900 census (S340) give July 1882.
  18. S3401900 U.S. Federal Census — Henry Roberts household, Ryegate, Caledonia Co., Vermont. Ancestry record 61919208. Image examined, read 24 September 2026. Confirmed ED 51, sheet 8, dwelling 173. Henry Roberts, 55, b. Oct 1844, Vt., farm laborer, married 32 years; wife Delina, 47, b. Apr 1853, Vt., mother of 10 children, 4 living; sons Theodore (b. Jan 1877), Leon (b. July 1882), Homer (b. May 1886) and Elmer (b. Mar 1888). Leon's three brothers enter the record here.
  19. S341Elroy McKendree Avery, The Groton Avery Clan, vol. 2 (1912), p. 880 — Grace May Avery. Ancestry record 4513405467. Image examined, read 24 September 2026. Probable No. 6106, Grace May, daughter of Frank Forest and Betsey (Avery) Avery, born 27 April 1886 at Bradford, Vt.; married Leon Roberts in June 1907; “she was drowned July 5, 1908.” A compiled family history, not a record. It gives the wedding as 30 June at Bradford; the Vermont marriage card, the contemporary return, gives 26 June 1907, and the card's date is kept. The drowning rests on this book alone.
  20. S342Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records — Williamstown marriages 1940, no. 39, McDonald–Roberts. Ancestry record 15052518. Image examined, read 24 September 2026. Confirmed 30 Aug 1940, Williamstown: Charles Jay McDonald, 27, of Pittsfield, son of Jay C. McDonald and Goldie Hood, married Bernice Louise Roberts, 18, of Dalton, born Dalton, daughter of Leon H. Roberts and Bessie Hill Henderson. Officiant Thomas M. Bishop. The index's “Berince” and “Hinderson” are misreadings.

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