Rae was born in South Dakota five years before it became a state. His family moved to Iowa before he entered high school, and he graduated from Dubuque High School. He worked in the pattern shop of a local firm that made builder's hardware while studying mechanical drawing and machine design through International Correspondence Schools (ICS). In 1906, he moved to Chicago, where he worked as a draftsman in the insurance division of the Plant Maintenance Department of Western Electric Company while studying fire protection engineering at Armour Institute of Technology (now Illinois Institute of Technology). These studies led to his employment by Underwriters' Laboratories in December 1907.
Rae was promoted to Assistant Engineer of the Protection Department in 1909, and made Division Engineer of the General Hydraulics Division in 1917. In 1921 he was made Division Engineer of the consolidated General Hydraulics and Sprinkler Divisions, and in 1922 became the first head of the newly-established Hydraulics Department. He held that position until his retirement in 1949. According to one expert, at his retirement in 1950 Rae was "the most knowledgeable man about automatic sprinkler systems in the United States."
Rae was a source of help and inspiration to inspection bureaus around the country, attending their meetings regularly and having a wide circle of friends in inspection departments, insurance companies, and industries with whom he and Underwriters' Laboratories came into contact. He was a member of the American Waterworks Association, the New England Waterworks Association, the National Association of Fire Protection Engineers, which he served in a number of capacities, and the National Board of Fire Underwriters, which he also served in a number of capacities. He contributed numerous articles to the publications of all these groups.
Rae despised his name, considering it effeminate, and signed his name "R.W. Hendricks." It was only through letters of congratulations upon his retirement that his family discovered that to his business associates, he had been known as "Jack."
Rae was an avid bass fisherman, and had a great fondness for the area of northern Wisconsin where his grandfather had been a lumberman in the mid-1800s. His family did a great deal of camping in that area as well as others. (Remember this was in the early 1900s, when there were few paved roads, let alone commercial campgrounds!) He was also deeply interested in every phase of photography, taking black-and-white photos, processing them (chemically!) and framing them artistically. And though someone once said he "couldn't carry a tune in a bucket," he was a great fan of opera, with a considerable collection of phonograph records. He was also known to build radios, both long- and short-wave.
Rae and Elsie bought the house at 718 N. 5th Avenue in Maywood a few years after their marriage, and lived there 57 years. One of the first things they had to do was to convert it from gaslight to electricity: a major DIY project that began a long-time Hendricks family tradition of DIY home reconstruction and remodeling.
Rae was promoted to Assistant Engineer of the Protection Department in 1909, and made Division Engineer of the General Hydraulics Division in 1917. In 1921 he was made Division Engineer of the consolidated General Hydraulics and Sprinkler Divisions, and in 1922 became the first head of the newly-established Hydraulics Department. He held that position until his retirement in 1949. According to one expert, at his retirement in 1950 Rae was "the most knowledgeable man about automatic sprinkler systems in the United States."
Rae was a source of help and inspiration to inspection bureaus around the country, attending their meetings regularly and having a wide circle of friends in inspection departments, insurance companies, and industries with whom he and Underwriters' Laboratories came into contact. He was a member of the American Waterworks Association, the New England Waterworks Association, the National Association of Fire Protection Engineers, which he served in a number of capacities, and the National Board of Fire Underwriters, which he also served in a number of capacities. He contributed numerous articles to the publications of all these groups.
Rae despised his name, considering it effeminate, and signed his name "R.W. Hendricks." It was only through letters of congratulations upon his retirement that his family discovered that to his business associates, he had been known as "Jack."
Rae was an avid bass fisherman, and had a great fondness for the area of northern Wisconsin where his grandfather had been a lumberman in the mid-1800s. His family did a great deal of camping in that area as well as others. (Remember this was in the early 1900s, when there were few paved roads, let alone commercial campgrounds!) He was also deeply interested in every phase of photography, taking black-and-white photos, processing them (chemically!) and framing them artistically. And though someone once said he "couldn't carry a tune in a bucket," he was a great fan of opera, with a considerable collection of phonograph records. He was also known to build radios, both long- and short-wave.
Rae and Elsie bought the house at 718 N. 5th Avenue in Maywood a few years after their marriage, and lived there 57 years. One of the first things they had to do was to convert it from gaslight to electricity: a major DIY project that began a long-time Hendricks family tradition of DIY home reconstruction and remodeling.
Rae was born in South Dakota five years before it became a state. His family moved to Iowa before he entered high school, and he graduated from Dubuque High School. He worked in the pattern shop of a local firm that made builder's hardware while studying mechanical drawing and machine design through International Correspondence Schools (ICS). In 1906, he moved to Chicago, where he worked as a draftsman in the insurance division of the Plant Maintenance Department of Western Electric Company while studying fire protection engineering at Armour Institute of Technology (now Illinois Institute of Technology). These studies led to his employment by Underwriters' Laboratories in December 1907.
Rae was promoted to Assistant Engineer of the Protection Department in 1909, and made Division Engineer of the General Hydraulics Division in 1917. In 1921 he was made Division Engineer of the consolidated General Hydraulics and Sprinkler Divisions, and in 1922 became the first head of the newly-established Hydraulics Department. He held that position until his retirement in 1949. According to one expert, at his retirement in 1950 Rae was "the most knowledgeable man about automatic sprinkler systems in the United States."
Rae was a source of help and inspiration to inspection bureaus around the country, attending their meetings regularly and having a wide circle of friends in inspection departments, insurance companies, and industries with whom he and Underwriters' Laboratories came into contact. He was a member of the American Waterworks Association, the New England Waterworks Association, the National Association of Fire Protection Engineers, which he served in a number of capacities, and the National Board of Fire Underwriters, which he also served in a number of capacities. He contributed numerous articles to the publications of all these groups.
Rae despised his name, considering it effeminate, and signed his name "R.W. Hendricks." It was only through letters of congratulations upon his retirement that his family discovered that to his business associates, he had been known as "Jack."
Rae was an avid bass fisherman, and had a great fondness for the area of northern Wisconsin where his grandfather had been a lumberman in the mid-1800s. His family did a great deal of camping in that area as well as others. (Remember this was in the early 1900s, when there were few paved roads, let alone commercial campgrounds!) He was also deeply interested in every phase of photography, taking black-and-white photos, processing them (chemically!) and framing them artistically. And though someone once said he "couldn't carry a tune in a bucket," he was a great fan of opera, with a considerable collection of phonograph records. He was also known to build radios, both long- and short-wave.
Rae and Elsie bought the house at 718 N. 5th Avenue in Maywood a few years after their marriage, and lived there 57 years. One of the first things they had to do was to convert it from gaslight to electricity: a major DIY project that began a long-time Hendricks family tradition of DIY home reconstruction and remodeling.
Rae was promoted to Assistant Engineer of the Protection Department in 1909, and made Division Engineer of the General Hydraulics Division in 1917. In 1921 he was made Division Engineer of the consolidated General Hydraulics and Sprinkler Divisions, and in 1922 became the first head of the newly-established Hydraulics Department. He held that position until his retirement in 1949. According to one expert, at his retirement in 1950 Rae was "the most knowledgeable man about automatic sprinkler systems in the United States."
Rae was a source of help and inspiration to inspection bureaus around the country, attending their meetings regularly and having a wide circle of friends in inspection departments, insurance companies, and industries with whom he and Underwriters' Laboratories came into contact. He was a member of the American Waterworks Association, the New England Waterworks Association, the National Association of Fire Protection Engineers, which he served in a number of capacities, and the National Board of Fire Underwriters, which he also served in a number of capacities. He contributed numerous articles to the publications of all these groups.
Rae despised his name, considering it effeminate, and signed his name "R.W. Hendricks." It was only through letters of congratulations upon his retirement that his family discovered that to his business associates, he had been known as "Jack."
Rae was an avid bass fisherman, and had a great fondness for the area of northern Wisconsin where his grandfather had been a lumberman in the mid-1800s. His family did a great deal of camping in that area as well as others. (Remember this was in the early 1900s, when there were few paved roads, let alone commercial campgrounds!) He was also deeply interested in every phase of photography, taking black-and-white photos, processing them (chemically!) and framing them artistically. And though someone once said he "couldn't carry a tune in a bucket," he was a great fan of opera, with a considerable collection of phonograph records. He was also known to build radios, both long- and short-wave.
Rae and Elsie bought the house at 718 N. 5th Avenue in Maywood a few years after their marriage, and lived there 57 years. One of the first things they had to do was to convert it from gaslight to electricity: a major DIY project that began a long-time Hendricks family tradition of DIY home reconstruction and remodeling.
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