Rachel Louise Gentry Erath -- Secretary and Bookkeeper

 

Rachel Gentry Erath

Rachel Louise Gentry was born on June 3, 1931 in Cadiz, Kentucky. She was the third of five children born to Thomas Perry Gentry and Eliza Dell Hughes Gentry.  Thomas was a farmer and both he and Eliza Dell were natives of Trigg County.  Rachel was a descendant of Starkie Thomas.

Rachel’s siblings were Thomas Hughes Gentry, born in 1925 and married Nellie Evelyn Thomas; Lillian Pearl Gentry, born in 1927 and died at birth; Clara Dell Gentry, born in 1937 and married Ernest Ronald Lawrence; and Mary Jo Gentry, born in 1939 and married Carol Wayne Whitmer and later married Eugene Carrol Riley.

Rachel grew up in the Oak Grove community of Trigg County and attended the local rural Trigg County schools and went on to attend the Cadiz schools.  As a teenager, she worked as a clerk in a grocery store and as a seamstress with the E. R. Street Department Store in Cadiz.

On September 26, 1952, at the Oak Grove Baptist Church in Trigg County, Rachel married Robert "Bob" William Erath, who was serving in the U.S. Army at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.  Bob was born on November 27, 1929 in Brooklyn, New York, the son of William Charles Erath and Margaret Hussennetter Erath.  William Charles was a salesman in his family tile business and both he and Margaret were natives of Brooklyn, New York.  Bob grew up in Brooklyn and attended the public schools in Queens, New York. 

After Bob was discharged from the army, he and Rachel moved to Amityville, New York, a community located on Long Island, New York to make their home.  Bob went to work with his family tile contractor business,  William Erath and Son, Inc. which his grandfather had founded in 1912. Later, Bob became the owner of the firm.  In 1982 Bob retired from Erath and Son, Inc. and bought Hidden Harbor Marine in Copiague, New York. He was also a partner with, E. J. Enterprises and Fore Associates.  In 1990, he sold Hidden Harbor Marine and truly retired.   Rachel worked as a secretary and bookkeeper for William Erath and Son, Inc.

Rachel and Bob loved boating.  They took many cruises around Long Island as well as many other excursions around the east coast.  After many years of boating, Bob became the Commander of the Amityville Yacht Club.  In 2010 Rachel and Bob moved to Juno Beach, Florida where they lived in an independent senior living community called the Waterford.

Rachel and Bob were the parents of four children, Pamela Ann Erath, born in 1954 and married Gary John Franza and later married Arthur Alfred Sharples and then married David G. Formichella; Kimberly Robin Erath, born in 1956 and married Dan Parasky; William Scott Erath, born in 1959 and married Christina Ann Braster; and Jeffrey Thomas Erath, born in 1960 and married Angela Marie DeSanctis. 

Bob died on July 19, 2018 at the age of 88 in Juno Beach, Florida.  Rachel died on March 14, 2022 at the age of 91 in Juno Beach.

Bob Erath

LINEAGE: (Rachel Louise Gentry was the daughter of Thomas Perry and Eliza Dell Hughes Gentry.  Eliza was the first child of Mason Hamilton and Mattie Pearl Thomas Hughes, Jr.  Mattie was the first child of Wesley Gunn and Eliza L. Henderson Thomas.  Wesley Gunn was the sixth child of Stanley and Emily Ann Light Thomas.  Stanley was the second child of Starkie and Mary Bridges Thomas.  Starkie was the fourth child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.)