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Robert Otto Bauer collection, 1941-2004, Date acquired: 2018-05-16, 2018-05-21

 

Summary

Creator:
Bauer, Joyce Ann
Bauer, Robert Otto
Extent:
.5 Linear Feet 1 half box
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Title of Item], [Date of Item], [Box and Folder number], Robert Otto Bauer collection, Special Collections & Archives, Florida State University Libraries, Tallahassee, Florida. http://purl.fcla.edu/fsu/WWII_18_0015.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection relates to Technician Fifth Grade Robert Otto Bauer who served with the 100th Infantry Division Band and subsequently Company C, 8th Armored Infantry Battalion, 20th Armored Division, in the European Theater during World War II. The collection includes artifacts, German World War II pilot flying helmets, photographs, veteran association newsletters, and ephemera. One unpublished photograph includes actress Ingrid Bergman posing with Bauer during the war. Photographs and memorabilia related to Bauer's wife, Joyce Ann Bauer, are also included in the collections.

Biographical / historical:

Robert Otto Bauer was born on April 20, 1923, in Wyandotte, MI to Otto and Frances Bauer. During his youth, Bauer developed an interest in music and played the tuba in the MacKenzie High School Band. Bauer entered active duty in the U.S. Army on March 11, 1943, with his military occupational specialty entered as "Bandsman Tuba." His playing time with the 100th Infantry Division Band was interrupted by an appendectomy and a serious reaction to penicillin. While Bob was recovering, his fellow bandsmen shipped out to Europe in late 1944.

Upon his hospital release, Bauer was reassigned to Company C, 8th Armored Infantry Battalion as an infantryman with the 20th Armored Division which was formed at Camp Campbell, KY in March 1943. The division arrived at Le Harve, France on February 18, 1945. The division experienced their first combat during April 1945 in Germany. The division participated in liberating Dachau Concentration Camp near Munich on April 29, 1945. Bauer was discharged on February 18, 1945.

After the war, he returned to Michigan and met his future wife, Joyce Ann. Their fifty-five-year marriage ended with Joyce's death in December 2002. They raised two sons, Robert O., Jr. and William C. Moving to Gainesville, FL in 1948, Bauer entered the University of Florida and served as student band manager for the University. In addition to band activities, he served with the President's Cabinet and the Florida Blue Key. After graduation, Bauer entered the business world. He served as President of the Delaney Park Little League and as an active member of his son's PTA's and athletic organizations. He and Joyce moved to St. Cloud in 1970, co-founding Maribou Corporation with his sister, Jayne, and brother-in-law, George Marinoff. He found deep satisfaction in constructing houses and later finding homes for families as a realtor for M & N Realty.


Joyce Ann Bauer, maiden name Mansfield, was born on February 2, 1921, in western Canada. She soon moved with her parents to the Detroit, Michigan area. She began making family visits to Florida in 1936, living in Pinellas County. During WWII, she worked as Administrative Assistant to the President of General Motors Truck Division with Yellow Truck & Coach Manufacturing Company. Following the war, she met and married Robert O. Bauer. Relocating to the University of Florida, Joyce served as secretary for the Music Department, while Robert was student band manager. Together they had two sons, Rob and Bill. Joyce Ann served in many voluntary positions, helping organize the first library at Lake Como Elementary, Orlando, being active in PTA and numerous other organizations. After moving to St. Cloud, FL in 1970, Joyce, with her husband volunteered at the Cancer Society, Meals-on-Wheels and Visitors Bureau. Joyce Ann passed away on December 2, 2001.

Sources:

"Robert Bauer." Find A Grave. Accessed May 23, 2018. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/130706474/robert-bauer.

"Robert Otto Bauer Obituary." Legacy.com. Accessed May 23, 2018. http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/orlandosentinel/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=19161755.

"Joyce Bauer Obituary." Legacy.com. Accessed August 16, 2018. https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/orlandosentinel/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=154362

Acquisition information:
William C. Bauer (Son of Robert Otto Bauer)
Custodial history:

Transferred from the Institute on World War II and the Human Experience to FSU Libraries Special Collections & Archives in July 2022.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

This collection is open to all researchers.

Terms of access:

All requests for permission to quote, publish, broadcast or otherwise reproduce from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Associate Dean for Special Collections & Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Florida State University Libraries as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

Preferred citation:

[Title of Item], [Date of Item], [Box and Folder number], Robert Otto Bauer collection, Special Collections & Archives, Florida State University Libraries, Tallahassee, Florida. http://purl.fcla.edu/fsu/WWII_18_0015.

Location of this collection:
116 Honors Way
Tallahassee
FL
32306-2047
USA