John F. Foxhill Jr.

CORPORAL JOHN F. FOXHILL Jr.  was born in 1910 to John F. and Annie Foxhill in Milford, Bucks County PA. He had two older brothers, Frederick and Roy. By 1913 the family had moved to 813 North 66th Street in Philadelphia before moving to Camden. The Foxhills purchased a home at 2953 Hartford Road, the corner of Hartford and Argus Roads, in the Yorkship Square section of Camden, better known today as Fairview, on March 27, 1925. John Foxhill graduated from the Yorkship School on Collings Road.

John Foxhill Jr. with  sister-inlaw Mildred Snellbaker Foxhill Fairview neighborhood, Camden NJ- 1920s	The Yorkship School, Collings Road, Camden NJ
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They were living at that address at the time of the April 1930 United States Census. John F. Foxhill Sr. had originally worked as a butcher. He apparently was a proficient piano player, and found work playing piano in theaters showing silent movies. By 1930 the elder Foxhill was working as a mechanic for the National Theater Supply Company, and also ran the projection machines when a record had to put on for sound to the films. 

Young John Foxhill was working as a motion picture projectionist in movie theaters in Camden, and also at the Jersey shore, serving as the projectionist at the Avalon Theater in Avalon NJ. He liked big cars and to drive fast. His niece remembers him commuting back and forth to the Jersey shore. He liked big cars and to drive fast.

"Uncle John was a fast driver, pedal to the metal! I heard that he got from Clementon to Stone Harbor in 55 minutes once. Now this is by the back roads that are very curvy and two lane! I remember riding in the rumble seat of his car."

His brothers Roy and Fred also worked as projectionists in Camden, Clementon, and at the shore. In November of 1936 John Foxhill was the projectionist at the Broadway Theater in Camden, later known as the Midway, on Broadway below Federal Street, where the Transportation Center now stands. The Foxhill family sold the house in Camden in May of 1937, and moved to a home at 43 White Horse Avenue in Clementon NJ.

2953 Hartford Road, Camden NJ The Foxhill family lived in the home with the enclosed porch	43 White Horse Avenue, Clementon NJ
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Inducted into the United States Army on February 12, 1943, John Foxhill was assigned to an infantry unit, and completed combat infantry training. As he was large and not particularly fleet of foot, his commanding officer later assigned him to train as a radio operator. He was assigned to the permanent garrison at Camp Swift, near Bastrop TX.
 

Corporal John Foxhill at Camp Swift TX
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Corporal John Foxhill died February 1, 1945 while serving at Camp Swift. Still a fast driver, he was driving a jeep when the jeep blew a tire, he was thrown forward against the steering wheel and windshield, causing fatal injuries. His family was notified by telegram on February 3, 1945, that his body would arrive by train with a six man military escort on February 5. He was brought to Oliver Bair's Funeral Parlor at 18th and Chestnut Streets in Philadelphia PA. Funeral service were held there on February 8, 1945. The six soldiers who had brought him home from Texas (Wells, Hillier, Weitz, Dougherty, O'Keefe, and Andrews) served as pallbearers. He was survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. John F. Foxhill, his brothers, and extended family. 

Western Union Telegram February 3, 1943	Camden Courier-Post February 2, 1943
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John Foxhill rests at Arlington Cemetery in Drexel Hill PA, next to his father, who passed away in 1946, and his mother who joined them in 1958. He is remembered on the Clementon NJ War Memorial.

In the 1990s, a friend spoke with John Foxhill's niece, Jane Foxhill Hamilton, about her Uncle John:

"You asked about your Uncle John, and after 50 years since he died this is what I remember. He was a very nice person, and I considered him a good friend. He, as you know loved automobiles, and always had a lot of power under his foot. He also had sympathy for the under dog, and (what I really enjoyed) a great sense of humor. He was a very realistic person about most things, but his one big fault was-he loved speed and the power of a big car! That is how he died in Texas. Some times I think-that is how he would want it".  

CAMP SWIFT is bordered by U.S. highways 95 and 290 twenty-eight miles east of Austin and seven miles north of Bastrop in Bastrop County. It was built in 1942 on 55,906 acres and initially had 2,750 buildings designed to accommodate 44,000 troops. The camp was named after Eben Swift, a World War I commander and author. During World War II it reached a maximum strength of 90,000 troops and included, at different times, the 95th, 97th, and 102d Infantry divisions, the 10th Mountain Division, the 116th and 120th Tank Destroyer battalions, and the 5th Headquarters, Special Troops, of the Third Army. Swift was the largest army training and transshipment camp in Texas. It also housed 3,865 German prisoners of war. After the war much of the site was returned to former owners. The government retained 11,700 acres as a military reservation. That land housed parts of the Texas National Guard, a medium-security federal prison, and a University of Texas cancer research center. Environmental-impact studies and development plans for the mining of extensive lignite deposits under Camp Swift began in the 1970s. Opposition by environmentalists and former landowners resulted in decades of litigation.

Two More Links About Camp Swift
CAMP SWIFT     CAMP SWIFT 

Oliver Bair Funeral Parlor - 1990s