Thomas C. Blair Jr.
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Thomas C. Blair Jr. was born in Camden to Edna and Thomas Blair on November 24, 1925. His parents had been living in Gloucester City in January of 1920. The 1924 Camden City Directory, the 1930 Census, and the 1947 Camden City Directory show his father, Thomas C. Blair, a self-employed paperhanger, living at 1034 North 18th Street in Cramer Hill. This address would remain in the Blair family through the fall of 1969. When the Census was taken in April of 1930, the family included two sisters, Edna and Dorothy Blair.
On February 2, 1944 Thomas C. Blair Jr. joined the United States Navy. He reached the rank of Aviation Ordnanceman Third Class before leaving the service.
Thomas Blair was living at 1918 Pierce Avenue in Cramer Hill when he was appointed to the Camden Fire Department on December 30, 1950 and reported for duty on January 1, 1951. He was in time promoted to captain and later, on December 30, 1969, to Battalion Chief. The 1969 and 1970 New Jersey Bell Telephone Directories show an address of 467 North 34th Street for Thomas C. Blair Jr.
By 1977 residence restrictions had been lifted on Camden fire fighters. Chief Blair and his wife Doris moved to Atco, New Jersey.
Chief Blair retired on February 1, 1981, and in time settled at Bayonet Point, Florida. Last a resident of Hudson, Florida, he passed away on October 17, 2003. He was buried at Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, Florida.
Camden Division of Fire Personnel Record
- Badge No: 55
- Name in Full: Thomas C. Blair, Jr.
- Address: 1918 Pierce [crossed out]; 3 Hillside Dr., Atco, N.J. [phone: 966-[?] 767-4636]
- Age: 25 · Citizen: Yes · Color: W · Sex: M
- Date of Birth: Nov. 24, 1925
- Born in City of: Camden · State: N.J.
- Name of Parents: Thomas & Edna
- Marital Conditions: [Doris — written in the Widowed field]
- Date of Appointment: Dec. 30, 1950 · Reported for duty: Jan. 1, 1951
- Title of Position: Fireman → Capt → Batt. Chief 12/30/69
- High School Graduate: No [checked]
- Pension 2-1-81
- [additional address added later] 12212 Bear Creek Lane, Bayonet Point, Florida 34667, 813-862-0462
Tag: thomas-c-blair-jr
18th Street
Eighteenth Street runs from River Avenue north to just beyond Harrison Avenue in the Cramer Hill section of Camden, New Jersey. Originally called Dayton Avenue, it was renamed shortly after the 1900 Census.
Fire Rips E. Camden Home, Leaving 4 Youngsters Dead
Four children of Mrs. Geraldine Binder died in a 20-minute fire at 433 Garden Avenue in East Camden; Battalion Chief Thomas Blair said all four appeared to have died of smoke inhalation and that the blaze likely started near the living room couch.