The Revolutionary Detective
In Memory of Historian and Author
ROBERT A. MAYERS
April 7, 1930 - January 25, 2025
ABOUT THE LIFE OF ROBERT A. MAYERS
Robert A. Mayers was born in Passaic, N.J., on April 7th, 1930, and grew up in Belleville, N.J., during the 1930’s despite the Great Depression and World War II. The neighborhood on Perry Street was teeming with happy children of all ages. Good times and holidays were spent with cousins in Belleville, and visits were made to Clifton and Passaic to see grandparents, aunts, and uncles. Bob attended Belleville School #3 and was an active Cub Scout. At the age of nine, he won a “soapbox derby” race, competing against fifteen other small homemade racing cars. Summers were “down the shore” at Shark River Hills and family gatherings at Uncle Dave’s farm in Warren County. As a teenager, Bob was active in the Order of DeMolay and became a Master Mason in 1951. He attended Belleville High School and worked as a summer laborer for the Belleville Board of Education.
Bob met the love of his life, Norma Lehmann, in high school when she was fourteen and was sixteen. After high school, he enrolled at Rutgers University and continued working summers to pay his tuition. He graduated from Rutgers in 1953 and joined the Navy the same year. His military service was during the Korean conflict. He attended Officer Candidate School in Newport, RI, and was assigned to sea duty as Gunnery Officer on a destroyer, the USS Hunt DD 674. The ship made an around-the-world cruise in 1954 and operated in the western Pacific for a portion of that year. Bob was promoted to Lieutenant (jg) in 1954 and assigned as Naval Gunfire Liaison Officer with the 6Th Marine Regiment. Coincidentally, his father, Robert E., helped build his ship while working as a marine pipe fitter at the Kearney Federal Shipyard during World War II.
After graduating from Belleville High School, Norma joined the Prudential Insurance Company, where she served as Assistant Office Manager until 1957. Bob and Norma were married on July 23, 1955, at Grace Episcopal Church in Nutley, NJ. Bob left the Navy in 1956 and joined the Personnel Department at Western Electric in Newark. The couple lived at 90 Overlook Avenue in Belleville. Bob joined the Westinghouse Corporation in Metuchen, NJ, as Personnel Administrator in 1956. Their first child, Robert Paul, was born in 1957, and their second son, Ronald, was born only fifteen months later. Daughter Dawn arrived in 1962.
In 1962, the family built their dream home in Watchung, NJ onhigh on a hill with a panoramic view of the valley below. When they first moved to this “wilderness,” the street was nothing more than a dirt road that ended at their house. The road was extended, and many young families joined them in new homes. These neighbors became lifelong friends. The Mayers' children had endless playmates and attended Watchung Grade Schools and Watchung Hills High School. Bob was an assistant scoutmaster for his sons. Summers were at the Brook Hill Swim Club in town, and weekends and vacations at the family summer home at the Jersey Shore at Shark River Hills.
Norma managed the family’s finances and home improvement projects. Born to European tailors, she became a skilled seamstress and learned her mother’s cooking. To stay fit, Norma jogged and attended aerobic dance class, and Bob swam.
Bob joined Thomas & Betts Co. in 1957 as Personnel Director and was promoted to Vice President, directing the company’s overseas manufacturing operations. He represented the firm on the Board of Directors of the Union County Chamber of Commerce and served as Chairman of the United Fund. He received the “Young Man of the Year” award for the County. He left T&B to continue in Human Resources as Director of Industrial Relations at both the Amerace Corporation and North American Philips.
In 1975, he joined Airco Corporation as Vice President of Human Resources and oversaw all personnel and labor relations activities across 123 locations worldwide. Ten years later, he began a new career in Human Resources Consulting at Manchester Partners International, where he became Executive Vice President and Partner, with direct responsibility for the firm’s offices in New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut. In 2002, he left the corporate world to fulfill a lifelong dream of becoming a full-time historian and published author.
The Mayers were avid travelers. They visited the Caribbean Islands and, in 1971, flew to California and drove back, crisscrossing the country to stop at national parks and cities. After the children left home for college and their own careers, Bob and Norma continued to see much of the world on annual vacations. Their trips included China, Australia, the Middle East, Scandinavia, Russia, South America, and Europe. When the family was together, major holidays were celebrated with the children and seven grandchildren. Christmas Day was spent at home in Watchung, hosted by Norma.
In 2001, they built a shore home next door to their son Bob and family at 46 South Bay Ave in Highlands, NJ. The waterfront homes are on the Shrewsbury River. Summers were spent between Watchung and the shore, where the family enjoyed boating, fishing, the beach, and frequent get-togethers. Winters included cruises and visits to their children’s winter homes in Bonita Springs and Cape Coral, Florida.
In 2005, Bob and Norma celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary by inviting their children and grandchildren on a cruise to England on the new ship, Queen Mary II. A gala golden wedding celebration for over a hundred family members, friends, and neighbors at the shore homes of the family on September 10th, 2005. The wedding celebration was held again for their 60th anniversary in 2015.
Bob Mayers became a full-time historian and author in 2002 and has written seven books that have sold successfully worldwide. “The War Man,” released in 2009, is a true account of his Revolutionary War ancestor, Corporal John Allison, a soldier in the Continental Army who served for the entire eight years of the war. An expert genealogist, he wrote “The Portrait of an American Family” in 2011, based on his many years of research into the ancestry of the Mayers and Allison families, conducted in England and America. These works were followed by “Searching for Private Yankee Doodle - Washington’s Soldiers, in the American Revolution.” This book describes the men of the Continental Army, who they were and what inspired them to endure appalling hardships.
In 2020, Bob wrote a history of his hometown, “Historic Tales of Watchung. He has also appeared on several Comcast TV programs hosted by his friend and fellow historian, John Schneider. His other works include: “Revolutionary Citizen-Soldier” featured in History Channel Magazine and Bloody Bound Brook and the Lost Hessian Diary and six other articles that appeared in Garden State Legacy Magazine. Bob is an active member of several historical societies and a frequent speaker and contributor to publications. He has spoken at West Point and the Pentagon. His military experience provides him with a deeper perspective on the campaigns and battles depicted in his books.
Books by Mayers
More to come...
Videos Featuring Robert A. Mayers
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