Andrew Pearson Jr. (aka: AJ) was born in Jackson, MS April 18,1916. He had one sister Lena Mae Pearson-Lonie. His mother Lillie Mae died shortly after the birth of his sister in 1917. His father married Geneva sometime later.

AJ Left Jackson, MS in 1932 at the age of 16, riding a boxcar to Chicago with his closest friend, Louis Powell. During the 1930;s he eventually secured employment as a truckdriver with Acme Valve and Fitting Company. He worked for this company till his retirement in 1966.

He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1941 and served until January, 1946. From sometime in 1944 he served in the European Theater. He was a driver of the legendary duece and a half truck and may have been one of the famed Negro Red Ball Express drivers. He had attained the rank of Technical Sergeant by the time he left the Army in 1946. He only spoke of his war experiences when talking with buddies who served with him. He recounted on one occasion seeing firsthand one of the German concentration camps right after it was liberated by the U.S. Army. He also spoke of driving his truck at night without lights through mountainous terrain to avoid attracting German aircraft and artillery.

AJ fathered three children: Lillie Marian, born October 26, 1944; AJ III, born September 15,1946 and Cleopatra Genevieve, November 17,1947. AJ was also stepfather to his wife Daisy's five older children: Willie Stoxstell, born 1933, Ann Stoxstell, born 1935, Lee Stoxstell, born 1936, Barbara Stoxstell, born 1937 and Patricia Stoxstell, born 1939.

AJ lived in Dixmoor, Illinois where he owned a home, from 1955 till his death in 1988. His widow, Daisy, survived him and died in 2002. Also deceased are his stepson, Lee Stoxstell and his youngest daughter, Cleopatra Genevieve Pearson-Martin.

A J Pearson