s. r. young

we lived on temple avenue 3 or 4 blocks southeast of the new house in 1954-55, during which time gary went to s.r. young elementary school, 5 or 6 blocks east of the new house--the new house was apparently first occupied, if not actually built, by the school's namesake samuel r. young---he lived there, or at least owned the house until his death in 1979, when the house was sold---

i found the family in the 1920 and 1930 censuses at 423 main---he was a civil engineer with the railroad, native of pennsylvannia, as were his wife, sidney, both of them born in 1886---with them were their sons samuel, jr. (born 1916) and robert g. (born 1923) and samuel, sr.'s widowed mother laura----according to the census, the house was valued at $10,000 in 1930---

oddly enough, sameul r. young, jr., died last saturday, two days before we closed on the sale--i can't decide what sort of omen that would be, if i believed in omens, but this is the obit that the family ran in the ajc:

Samuel R. Young, Colonel (Ret.) USAF, age 91, died peacefully at his home
on August 4, 2007. Sam was born on March 29, 1916 in Coatesville, Pennsylvania
to parents, Cydney Alta Young and Samuel Rollo Young. As an infant, he traveled
with his parents to College Park, Georgia, where his father was senior executive
for three railroads. He graduated from Georgia Military Academy (now Woodruff
Academy) and received his Civil Engineering degree from Georgia Institute of
Technology in 1937. At Georgia Tech, he was a member of Alpha Tau Omega
fraternity, served as captain of the Ga. Tech Football and Military Bands, and
enjoyed many weekends playing at the Fox theatre with his band, the Tech
Ramblers. In 1968, sent by the USAF, he completed the Harvard Advanced
Management School. He worked for a short time with Robert & Company
Engineers in Atlanta until his love of flying and world events of the 40's led
him into service to his country. His military career began in the Army Air Corps
as a pilot instructor during World War II. After the war, Sam served proudly
another thirty-three years in the United States Air Force stationed around the
world until his retirement in 1970. He was able to combine his love of flying
with engineering skills in the Air Force - maintaining his flight status in
training jets for twenty- plus years and holding senior positions responsible
for building the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) headquarters at
Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, and landing bases in Northern Thailand during the
Viet Nam War. Following his military retirement, Sam returned to Atlanta and
Robert & Company to work with the Atlanta Airport Engineers Expansion Plan
for Hartsfield Airport. Sam was instrumental in the production of the airport
basic securities manual - an FAA requirement in order for the City of Atlanta to
receive federal funds. Sam was preceded in death by his wife of fifty-seven
years, Elizabeth Rawlings Young, of Montgomery, Alabama. He is mourned by his
three children: sons, Samuel R. Young, Jr. (wife, Suzanne) of Edenton, North
Carolina and Michael M. Young of Los Angeles, California; daughter, Laura Young
Palmer of Atlanta; granddaughter, Emily Young Auer (husband, Kris) and grandsons Samuel Aaron Young (wife, Amy) and Dacklin R. Young. He was preceded in death by his brother, Robert G. Young of Atlanta and is survived by a number of Rawlings
and Young nieces and nephews. The family expresses sincere appreciation to
caregivers Eleanor Bryan and Ida Barrow for the dedicated care given to their
father during his last years and for the many years of special care and service
of Mary Pettway. A service celebrating Sam's life will be held at Peachtree Road
United Methodist Church at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday August 14th. The family will
greet visitors at 1:00 p.m. at the church. In lieu of flowers contributions may
be made to Peachtree Road United Methodist Church, 3180 Peachtree Road, NE,
Atlanta, GA, 30305, to Hospice Atlanta at 1244 Park Vista Drive, Atlanta, GA
30319 or to a charity of your choice.