Fred Waring is the most famous of the Tyrone Waring's. However, generations of Warings have been an integral part of the Tyrone community. Fred's great-grandfather1 William Griffith Waring, bought land in Tyrone in 1850.1 In 1851 he built a house and his brother, Robert joined him in Tyrone.2 They established a nursery of native and imported species of trees, shrubs and plants that was managed by Robert3 In 1856 William accepted the position of superintendent of building operations of Farmers High School.4 The school opened in 1859 and William became the general superintendent and professor of horticulture.5 After the death of his son, Waldemar, in 1859 and his wife, Melinda, in 18~ William resigned from the school.6 Farmers High School eventually became Pennsylvania State University. William is given the credit for a lot of the original landscaping on the campus.7

    Fred remembered that his great-grandfather lived near their house. In 1905 William, almost 90 years old, took Fred to school on his first day.8 William died in his son's home in Tyrone in 1906 and was buried in Grandview Cemetary.9 His memoirs are at the Pennsylvania State University archives. He willed land in Tyrone to his three surviving sons, Wm. George, Edmund and Franklin Robert10

     After his mother's death Wm. George entered college.11 Edmund and Franklin Robert were sent to live with their mother's sister, Sara Baker.12 Family researchers are not certain when Edmund and Franklin Robert returned to Tyrone to live with their father.13 All three worked in their father's nursery at different points in time.14 Eventually, the three men found their own vocations.

     Wm. George pursued a career in chemistry and metallurgy that took him Colorado, New Mexico, Mexico, and Missouri.l5 He wrote a series of articles describing his travels in Mexico that were printed in the Tyrone Daily Herald between 1886 and 1889.16

Edmund operated a skating rink on S. Lincoln Ave.17 The exact location and the years it was operating are unknown. Edmund and his first wife, Lydia,

Frank and Jessie Waring's family had their fair share of difficult times. Tom was chronically ill throughout his child hood.31 Their oldest son Monroe (Bud) returned form service in World War I changed. He suffered from the affects of poison gas and 'shell shock. '32 In 1929 Bud died after a train struck the car he and his wife were driving.33 In 1918 Frank was pushed out of the F3rmers and Merchants Bank which he had helped to organize. Sometime in the 1920s Frank deserted his wife and children and moved to Harrisburg, Fennsylvania.34

Frank and Jessie's personal interest in music influenced their sons Fred and Tom's decisions to pursue musical careers. They had good voices and sang in church, at weddings and funerals.35 In 1905 Frank and Fred sang "Cupid is the Captain of the Army" together in a local musical. Fred was "Cupid" on horseback. This was his first stage appearance.36 Frank was a staunch prohibitionist and recruited Fred to sing at temperance rallies.37 "The Brewer's Big Horses Can't Run Over Me" was another father/son duet.38

In 1916 Tom and childhood friend, Poley McClintock, formed the "Waring-McClintock Snap Orchestra. "39 The band doubled in size when Fred and another friend, Freddie Buck joined the group. 40 Some mothers might have disapproved of their children going into show business. However, Jessie Waring completely supported Fred and Tom in their efforts to make their band successful. The band's 'first big break' was playing at the Michigan "J" Hop in 1922.41 Jessie gave them the money for train fare to get to Ann Arbor.42 In 1923 they became Waring's Pennsylvanians.43 During the hectic 1920s Fred and Tom brought the whole band home to Tyrone when they were low on cash or in between performances. Jessie cooked for everyone. Other popular bands from that era also stopped at Jessie Waring's house in Tyrone for meals.44 Fred often called his mother after shows to ask her opinion. She always encouraged him to plan shows with variety and to perform religious music.45 When Jessie died in 1948 the Pennsylvanians paid tribute to her on their morning broadcast and sixty-five Pennsylvanians attended her funeral in Tyrone.46 Fred pursued a degree in architecture at Pennsylvania State University1 but left college in 1922 to tour with the band. He quickly emerged as the leader.47 The Pennsylvanians toured movie theaters across the country and starred in the first musical motion picture1 "Syncopation."48 During the 1930s Waring's Pennsylvanians had a six month run on Broadway and starred o~ several network radio shows.49

Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians entertained troops during World War II. They appeared at many war bond rallies and military training camps.50 In 1942 Fred opened the Tom Waring Canteen in New York. Ml the Pennsylvanians helped out and Tom's piano playing created a warm atmosphere.51 Fred also supported a canteen in Tyrone, known as the JyroneWaring Canteen.52 His maternal aunt Ann Calderwood, was a member of the committee that organized and operated the canteen.53

In 1949 Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians began weekly television performances.54 On his television program Fred reproduced scenes from the Waring parlor on 1309 Cameron Ave. 55 Fred gave Tyrone a great present when he brought the Pennsylvanians to Tyrone to give a concert benefiting the Tyrone Hospital on September 25, 1951.56 Dozens of volunteers worked to set up chairs on Gray Memorial Field. The concert was attended by 10,000 people. 57 Fred took out an ad in the August 5, 1957 special edition of the Tyrone Daily Herald congratulating the town on its centennial celebration.

Fred is better remembered than his younger brother, Tom. However, in the 1920s Tom got as much media attention as Fred. Critics gave Tom's singing voice rave reviews.58 Though he had no formal music instruction Torn was a pianist and composer.59 In 1964 Shawnee Press published a book of forty of Tom's songs.60 It is rumored that Tom's song "Way Back Home" published in 1935 was about Tyrone. After his mother's death Tome moved to Shawnee on Delaware, Pennsylvania and ran the gift shop at Shawnee Inn, a resort Fred had purchased.61 Tom was often frustrated that Fred was more recognized. Peter Keifer archivist of the Fred Waring's America Collection at Pennsylvania State University and former employee of the Warings, relates that Tom designed ties for the Shawnee gift shop and the label read, "Fred's Brother Makes Ties" In 1962 Tom formed a club he called "The Other Brothers Club." The charter members were himself,{ Edgar Eisenhower and Carmen Lombardo.63

Fred Waring never thought of Tyrone as just another place he lived. Throughout his long Jife and sixty-nine year musical career Fred remembered Tyrone. In 1983 Tyrone residents organized a celebration to pay tribute to him, including a banquet and a ceremony dedicating a plaque in his honor. Along with the plaque, which stands in front of Lincoln School, there are other Waring family landmarks in Tyrone. The Farmers and Merchants Bank building is still standing on Pennsylvania Ave., though it is no longer used as a bank. The large duplex at 1309 Cameron Ave. where Jessie Waring's family lived is still a private residence. There is also Waring St. just off Washington Ave. and Eastlawn and Grandview cemetaries where many Waring family members are buried. In fact Eastlawn cemetery is operated by Jeffrey Waring, the grandson of William Waldemar Waring, a brother of Frank Malcolm Waring.64 Just as Tyrone was not just a town, Fred Waring and his family were never any other residents.