Continuing now with our “Endless Waves” series,
meet Robert Dewitt “Bobby” Munkelwitz Munnell, Class of 1943.
Here is his Sayville High graduation picture.
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Continuing now with our “Endless Waves” series,
meet Robert Dewitt “Bobby” Munkelwitz Munnell, Class of 1943.
Here is his Sayville High graduation picture.
Robert Dewitt “Bobby” Munkelwitz Munnell, born in 1925, was the youngest of the three children born to Camilla and Will Munkelwitz. His brother Equinn was twelve years his senior and his sister Shirlee was nine years older. All were Sayville High School graduates – Equinn in the Class of 1931, Shirlee in the Class of 1934, and Bobby in the Class of 1943.
Bobby grew up and lived his entire life at his home on Collins Avenue. The recent photo of the home is just as it was when built in 1912.
Bobby was not yet born when his sister Shirlee (photo below), at age five, was seriously burned by a July 4th firecracker. The doctor recommended that Shirlee be taken to Fire Island where the sun, salt water, and ocean air would hasten her recovery. The family rented a house in Cherry Grove in summer 1921. Shirlee recovered wonderfully. Bobby’s mother, Camilla, loved the beach as did her sisters. Soon, both Camilla and her sister, Bertha, owned several houses at Cherry Grove. After Bobby was born in 1925, he too began his life-long affinity for Fire Island and Cherry Grove.
An example of how much the family loved Fire Island is the walk members of the family and neighbors decided to take on Lincoln’s birthday in February 1936. They took a 10 mile round trip walk across the frozen Great South Bay from Sayville to Cherry Grove and return. The group included Camilla, Bertha, their children, and several neighbors. Bobby was only eleven years old at the time.
The adjacent article from The Suffolk County News in 1971, recounts that trip. In the walk over to Cherry Grove, the wind was at their backs. What the article did not say was that the walk back was into a strong wind. They were exhausted when they got home. It was a miracle that nothing tragic happened.
Bobby continued to enjoy the beach in 1936 and 1937. Here are some photos of Bobby at play, including one with his mother, Camilla, when he was about 12.
Tragedy struck in the summer of 1938 when a hurricane struck and a tidal wave swept through Cherry Grove. Camilla and Bertha lost their homes. Below are some photos from the aftermath of that event.
It was not long before construction began and homes at Cherry Grove were being rebuilt. The photo postcard below depicts the West End of Cherry Grove, taken about 1940, is from the book, Cherry Grove, Fire Island written by Esther Newton (c1993). Camilla’s house, located on Holly Walk, is the one in the right center of the photo. Adjacent are two additional photos of the house, with Camilla on the porch, taken a few years later
Meanwhile, Bobby was growing up. On the left are Bobby with his cousin Marjorie O’Grady, another member of the Sayville High Class of 1943. On the right is Bobby with his sister Shirlee, a member of the Sayville High Class of 1934, on the ferry to Cherry Grove.
Bobby enlisted in the U.S. Army immediately after graduation in June 1943. Assigned to the 35th Division, and after basic training, his unit landed on Omaha Beach on July 7, 1944.
From there, they fought the Germans in the Battle of Saint-Lo, France (one of the three conflicts in the Battle of the Hedgerows, July 7-19, 1944), broke the counter-offensive at the French village of Mortain in Normandy (August 7-13, 1944) and swept toward Germany’s Saar Valley.
In October 1944, Bobby was wounded and sent to a hospital in England to recover. Four months later he rejoined his infantry unit. During his recovery, the 35th Division swept into the Ardennes region of Belgium, taking part in the Battle of the Bulge (December 16, 1944 to January 25, 1945), Adolf Hitler’s last major offensive in World War II against the Western Front.
The battle proved to be the costliest ever fought by the U.S. Army, which suffered over 100,000 casualties.
The Division was then shifted to the Vosges Mountains of France, near the French-German border. It was here that Bobby rejoined the 35th Division. From there they moved 300 miles through Holland with the aim of crossing the Roer and Rhine Rivers to assault the fortifications along Germany’s western frontier (Siegfried Line).
By V-E Day (Victory-Europe-May 8, 1945) the 35th Division moved more than 1,600 combat miles. The Division ended its occupational duties in Germany during mid-July 1945 and move to a redeployment camp near Rheims, France.
Bobby was released from the Army in November 1945. He received the following decorations: Combat Infantry Badge, the Purple Heart, three Battle Stars, a Good Conduct Medal, and a Presidential Citation with cluster.
After the war, Bobby returned to his home on Collins Avenue. Here he is with his nephew, Shirlee’s son Billy Nugent. In 1947, he helped his newly arrived cousin from California, Virginia Lussier, build her first snowman.
Bobby also returned to Cherry Grove, spending the months of April/May through November there. He built a house on Beach Walk, also on the West End of Cherry Grove.
He opened a real estate business renting homes to summer visitors as well as selling properties. He owned a bottle gas business and opened homes for occupancy in summer and closed them at the season’s end. He was an active community member serving for years as Fire Chief and Dock Master. He was regularly re-appointed to these positions by the Brookhaven Town Board.
Photo right is Oldtimers from Cherry Grove, 1986. Bobby is in the middle of the back row. Taken from the book, Cherry Grove, Fire Island by Esther Newton.
Here are two newspaper articles about his fire-fighting experiences as Fire Chief.
In March 1961, he married Shirley Katsos. She had come several years before from San Diego to New York City and Cherry Grove with a group of her theater production friends. She loved the beach and fit right in.
Photo left is Shirlee Nugent, Camilla, Bobby, and his wife, Shirley in 1977, followed by Bobby with his sister-in- law, Frances Munnell, in Sayville, Spring 1985.
Photo right is Shirley, Bobby, and his aunt, Lillian Lussier, at Christmas 1996.
Camilla’s house looks very different today with a second-floor addition and an expansion of the first floor.
Bobby at Cherry Grove with his dog “Georgie Girl”.
In 2015, Bobby’s niece, Tricia Nugent Rentschler (sister Shirlee’s daughter), on a visit to Cherry Grove. Tricia enjoyed many of the exact same views that Bobby loved.
Below are related family members also featured in our “Endless Waves” series, who are Sayville High School graduates.
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