Name August Gennerich | Died December 1, 1936 | |
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August Adolph Gennerich (February 10, 1887 – December 1, 1936) was the bodyguard of Franklin Roosevelt.
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Biography
He was born on February 10, 1887 in Yorkville, Manhattan.
In 1909 he started work with the New York City Police. He was cited three times for bravery, once for capturing bandits who "had peppered him for a mile and a half" with a machine gun until their car overturned. He later became a member of the bomb squad. In 1929 he was assigned as a bodyguard whenever New York's Governor was in the city. He was then assigned to Albany with the Governor.
In the winter of 1933 when the Roosevelts moved to Washington, D.C., he was given a 60-day leave of absence so that he could complete his 25 years on the force, and retire on a $1,500-a-year pension. This allowed him to join the United States Secret Service.
He died of a heart attack on December 1, 1936 in Buenos Aires.
Legacy
In the book Home Country, Ernie Pyle writes of Mr. Gennerich and FDR in Rapid City, South Dakota.