Yankton College - Okihe Yearbook (Yankton, SD)

Page 18 text:

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Page 17 text:

f - - . ,sp -:Wei-4-giff.. -q-,.i,-,-,,- :-1---y.1.',.,, , v Q, ,N - 3?-,r.gf v14.rr.',m2.:-'Q' 4:'m,Qff1?f': ' :ml 1 7 'ffffifuisii f 'X Wei, 11134 5234 , . ,f ,gf .fs t, iw ,p,.-:,,,,,.g,g , .f, ft., ,.,..., W., ,Aff ,, ' 1591? gas., Y? AEI! 5 ,hr -92.4.'o-Aka :5-:-xiifzir V,-1-1' V , -PQ -. -f' 1' ,izflefk-,T Wx 4--7 ,-f .' riiwv i-wa .wi 51 w0.ffws, - i -f-bf. .. Y A wi-fi--.1 ,. mt yi, . .Wi 5 , , 3 but this time in the service of the American Ambulance in France. The following july, at the close of his second year at Oxford, he went back to the Ambulance Service. l-lis work as an ambulance driver was Uconstantly loading and reloading terribly wounded and mutilated men. I-le became wonderfully expert in handling the mangled bodies of suffering men. Some can never learn to do such work well. Robert was to the manner born. I-le asked for the longest and hardest drives, I-le accepted none of the rest days allotted to him by the regulations. l-le was on the go through storm and night, eager to do his part and leave no man to suffer, if he could help it. ln this work Robert had no feeling that he was doing anything- great or excep- tional. l-le was doing only the natural and fitting thing, he thought, and doing it none too well. I-le was most impressed with the courage and sufferings of those whom he was serving, and with the heroism of those at the front, whether living or dead. Nor was he conscious that he was giving his life for the cause, overwork and exposure were exhausting him. l-le was driving his own motor too hard. It was on fire from its own over-strain, and before he was aware of it his life was spent, given to relieve the sufferings of others. Y Robert had received the year before from the Belgian Relief Commission a beautiful gold medal, and from Brand Whitlock, the American minister, a personal letter of appreciation. These he had never mentioned to anyoneg they were found in his trunk after he died. Shortly before his death the Republic of France con- ferred upon Robert Warren the gold medal of devotion, carrying with it 'ithe highest military honor bestowed on anyone not in the actual carnage of war. lt is a recognition of extraordinary devotion to duty, and of the highest degree of self- giving. I-le alone of the ambulance men had received it. Since then, at home, the alumni and former students of the College have contributed a fund for procuring a memorial portrait by a great American sculptor to be placed in the Library in honor of this first one of the sons of Yankton College to give his life in the great cause. Citizens of South Dakota, in a movement started by the D. A. R. of Yank- ton, have given to the American ambulance a standard ambulance automobile, completely equipped, in honor of Robert Warren and inscribed with his name. l-le was not only the first of the college but the first of the state to lay down his life. All the Yankton people and all students of his time will remember the events of Roberts sickness and death, the anxious days of waiting for news, the helplessness and the pity felt in every heart for the grief-stricken family. No one can forget the pathos of the mothers lonely voyage across the Atlantic in the hope of reaching his bedside before the end came, the arrival too late, and the return voyage with the body, President Warren meeting them at the dock in New York., Then fol- lowed the sad home-coming, on Christmas Day, and two days later the funeral at the church, Robert's body though not exposed to view, clothed in the uniform of a private soldier of France, the regular garb of ambulance men, and encased in a curious, foreign-looking, oaken coffin, and above it the crossed fiags of the United States and France. Robert did not live long. Neither did his Master. But he lived long enough to do something and to become something that will make his memory forever sweet and his influence everlasting. 'This is the compensation for a loss so heavy and a grief so poignant. Blessed are they that mourn, if in the mourning there are blended such strains of sacred memories - ' - C. l-i. DURAND

Page 19 text:

' 1fm1-c'f-'Wc41wf1fLQ2K'2:1'Ef'2 ,1.'Qt'f'ff: 51513-MF 2712 '- 2?f'i'Y'f457'V5?'L7lfY 'f 3f 'i'?9fR'f V 753 9R3f1f'1'fi:- 'iii' QTCZW flQ7i'f1?1:-:if.7i '. 'Q , ,,, M.. ,. , . 5. ..,.. A.. 1. , ., fry. 1:74 'iirgxz LEW'-.'-4:e,' mf W f ,-My Haig.. rg 54 .14 as-,y-: -vc, .. -ig.-,fi 'Wy 3'-',:g,'g:rq,- ,gr .,,.,., ' 1 1 9 . 2 jqfg. -1 515. 2- 31 f-1, 22:1 -zu 12 wi. Q:-:MM 14,4 uf : . ,A '- ' '- - -1 ,H-fs' ez: 4- f :- asm. 1 -,st QW Wa 'Q-:awffii 1 fazfvffi ':':e.v,,-r.. we 2' 3 jf AMN-Z3 -55,1 3-'AWA , -1:--lim cf- ff-'n J -v'-2'-v:4'Sjf1f1- A . 155551 -' W. ' 355' 4? ' After' the death of his wife Mr. Cray had entered the employ of the Curney Seed Company, presently assuming the position of sales manager for that large and progressive concern. In this work Mr. Cray made an extraordinary success, in spite of the fact that his health was declining and he knew he had but a short time to live. Some years previously Mr. Cray had served for a term or so on the city council, with marked success, and had his own ahfairs permitted might have gone further in public life. I-le had been active in the Congregational Church, having been for a time superintendent of the Sunday School and more recently a deacon in the Church. lVIr. Cray, having resided in Yankton, was known by a large number of Yankton alumni, former students, and teachers. I-le was a man of sterling character, loyal, warm hearted, lovable. l-le is deeply mourned by many friends. Three sons survive him: joseph Ward Cray, and William B. D. Cray, 2nd, both now in the Navy, and Donald, attending high school in Yankton. Mr. Cray's father, Rev. W. B. D. Cray, at one period connected in an important way with college finances, is Con- gregational Superintendent of Missions for Wyoming. His brothers are Burton Payne Cray '94, of Boston, Lieutenant W. S. Cray '98, in service at Fort Riley, Kansas, and Charles N. Cray, former Academy student, now of Minneapolis. - G. I-I. DURAND