By Christina Swanson, BA, CHN
Entrenched in the life of the coal region of Northeastern Pennsylvania, known for having the largest deposits of anthracite or pure black coal in the world, this Navy veteran would lead an exemplary life focused on upholding the 12 personal standards set by the Boy Scouts of America. These standards of being trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent have been the founding goals of Robert Erdossy’s life.
“I have based my life on these goals and the belief that God is, God was and God will always be,” said Erdossy. “That’s what I’m always aiming for and He is the one I desire to please.”
Growing up in Hazleton, PA, in the 1950s, he was one merit badge requirement away from Eagle Scout because he couldn’t swim the 150-yard challenge. This was due to a hard case of Rheumatic Fever as a child which resulted in a weak heart. But the importance of what he learned scouting carried him where years later he would
be a Scout Master for McAdoo, PA, Number 42 Troop.
While attending Hazleton High School, he joined the Navy Reserves at the end of his junior year in 1956, just before his 17th birthday. After enlisting in May at the Navy Reserve Center, by August he completed two weeks of bootcamp at Bainbridge, MD.
Erdossy initially enlisted for six years with the reserves, with his two weeks active duty training in various locations along the Great Lakes Region. As a seaman apprentice, he worked in the gunnery cleaning the defense weapons that would be used to shoot attacking aircraft.
By his second year, he participated as a radio seaman in communication with other ships training in submarine searches on joint missions. This was back when there were no satellites and communication was through morse code. One year, these search and destroy missions took place on a sub-chaser, a 110-foot vessel whose mission was to find submarines and destroy them, and would practice sending out underwater explosives.
“During practice, we would locate the enemy submarines electronically and then roll what looked like huge tin cans off the vessel over the submarine to explode under water,” said Erdossy.
“This was important training because throughout our nation’s history, we’ve had enemy submarines surrounding our country which we would have to defend and attack.”
After high school, along with his reserve duty, Erdossy became an apprentice draftsman with the Weatherly Steel Company, drawing plans for the steel structural supports needed for new construction. Here, raw steel was welded or riveted to make supports for buildings being built in Pennsylvania for both residential and commercial projects.
Before his reserve service ended in 1962, he got a physical to go on active duty in 1957. Although he refused to sign a waiver that stated his family would care for him if anything happened with his heart health, the Navy still reactivated him for full time active duty for two years.
Erdossy stayed with Weatherly for 23 years, which was only interrupted by the two years active-duty time, where he was assigned to a communication facility in French Morocco. The facility, like the others situated world-wide, were very high towers that allowed communications because of their height, back when there were no satellite systems. “The high towers allowed communication from one continent to another,” said Erdossy.
The way it worked was massive parabolic dish and "billboard" antennas created a tropospheric scatter that bounced signals over the horizon. Instead of relying on standard radio curvature limits, these powerful transmitters beamed ultra-high-frequency (UHF) or microwave signals straight up into the troposphere which is the lowest layer of the atmosphere.
“I got this plumb assignment because there was a vacancy for a draftsman in the design section of a public works office in Morocco, so I was doing that along with the communications work,” said Erdossy.
When he came off of active duty, he returned to the reserve office, signing up for six more years as part of the ready reserves, which meant he was available to be called up only if necessary. He had met a lady, Esther, who would become his wife and so he didn’t want to return to active duty as the Vietnam War was starting.
Now living near Allentown, PA, historically known as Dutch country, heavily populated by the Amish, Erdossy started working as the chief draftsman for a small fabricating steel company. Projects that stand out for him during this time were putting in a circular stairway for the Dixie Paper Company and building housing at Lee High University.
He then joined Fuller Company as a lead draftsman where he worked for more than 20 years. Here, they built the equipment that would eventually process the raw materials that made the cement that would create communities...the buildings, structures, sidewalks, and highways.
This company designed manufacturing plants which reduced material from large rocks into powder used to make cement. They also made the equipment that were technically dust collectors which stood out at 100 feet wide by 40 feet tall, and usually sat on 30 feet high structural steel supports. “If you drive down 95 from Allentown and into Virginia, you can still see this huge equipment dotting the area,” said Erdossy. It is still being used, just not as much as it was 40 years ago.
None of these companies exist today as they have been bought out.
During this time, his wife was working as the bookkeeper for a popular local bakery, called Egypt Star Bakery, located in downtown Allentown. Because Fuller Company was downsizing and the bakery owner needed help, Erdossy ended up doing everything from driving the bakery delivery truck to repairing the shop. As time went on, Esther ended up being the president of the company and they bought the bakery in 2005. A full-line bakery, it’s known for their over-sized, sour dough rye bread and cheese buns, as well as a host of cakes and muffins.
“It’s every bit as good as any high-end bakery you would find in New York City,” said Erdossy. Today, they still bake in an open hearth and make their goods with pure ingredients. During the holidays, people look forward to their challah bread which is braided. “We can be out and abought and if people recognize us, they usually ask if we have any cheese buns with us,” laughed Erdossy. Today the bakery has grown to four locations as well as a wholesale business that supplies restaurants and grocery stores, managed by their daughter and with the bakers being their son and son-in-law.
When they were working seven days a week for several years, they decided to take some time off, and planned some short vacations to experience other areas, like the Pocono Mountains. A few years back, they came as far south as Jacksonville, FL. It was right after the Easter baking rush and enjoying the unfamiliar warm mornings, they decided to buy a condo here and have spent several months out of the year here ever since. That’s also how they ended up at Southside Methodist and he’s enjoyed teaching Bible studies from the Old Testament and the Book of Revelations. A prolific writer, Erdossy is currently working on a study of the history of God. “I’ve taken the King James version and fill in the blanks and answer questions using other sources, such as the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Ethiopian Bible. I feel fortunate to be at Southside and will continue to do my duty to do my best as God calls me to do.”