Ray Elmer Gile (1883 - 1957)

Born 4 Jul 1883 in Merrillan, Jackson, Wisconsin, United States

Ancestors

Died 9 Feb 1957 at age 73 in Neillsville, Clark, Wisconsin, United States

Biography

This person was created through the import of Joy Ancestors.ged on 07 October 2010. The following data was included in the gedcom. You may wish to edit it for readability.

Burial

Burial:

Place: Oakwood Cem, Merrillan, Jackson County, WI

Note

Note: @NI337@

@NI337@ NOTE/Burleigh #688.>Ray was in the insurance business when his father Rulef died in 1909 and hereturned to Milwaukee where he and his brother, Earl G., took over managementof the R. H. Gile Publishing Co., printers of legal forms. In 1912, they soldthe business and Ray represented the firm in sales. In 1917 he returned to theInsurance field. In 1929, he sold the paper, Wisconsin Leader. He was laterpresident of the State Bank of Merrillan, clerk of the local school board formany years and served as a member of the Jackson county board for 14 years, andwas its chairman for seven. Prominent in Odd Fellows and Masonry, he was grandpatron of the Eastern Star of Wisconsin in 1924-5, and his wife is a pastmatron of the Eastern Star.

 !Marriage Index, Winnebago Co. IL - 2 Oct 1907, age 25, m. Dawson, Bessie J.,age 29.

 !1920 census Park Rd., Merrillan, Jackson, WI age 36 b. WI, name Ray E. Gile,with wife Bessie, Daus Mary, Jean; sons Realf?, Gibson; his m. and f. in law andwhat looks like Percy Veejiac age 1 10/12, b. IL.

 !Biography in file. "During the past 15 years (since 1917) Ray E. Gile has beensuccessfully engaged in the insurance business at Merrilan, Jackson Co. theplace of his nativity."

 !+Obit - The LaCrosse Tribune Feb. 11, 1957 p. 2 - "Ray E. Gile, 73, one of Merrillan's most prominent citizens, died Saturdayat a Neillsville hospital where he had been a patient for about two weeks. (Funeral serv. Merrillan Methodist church with Masonic Rites, but. MerrillanCem.) Mr. Gile was born July 4, 1883 at Merrillan, the son of pioneer parents.His father published the Wisconsin Leader at Merrillan until 1899. The familymoved to Milwaukee where the elder Gile was engaged in a bookbindery. Ray Gilereturned to Merrillan in 1911 to operate the newspaper. He published the paper until 1930 when it was sold to the Black River FallsBanner Journal. In the meantime he had started the Gile Insurance Agency whichhe operated with his son. The agency was started in 1917. Later he became field supervisor for the Federal land Bank of St. Paul,where he lived for 15 years, returning to Merrillan in 1948. He was presidentof the Merrillan Bank, and later director of the Jackson County Bank, followinga merger with the Merrillan firm. He was a member of the Jackson CountySelective Service Board, chairman of the board of the Merrillan MethodistChurch and served on several committees of the Western Wisconsin MethodistConference. He also serbved as chairman of the Jackson County Board, was paste presidentof the Jackson Co. Historical Society, a member of the Merrillan School Board,and a founder of the National Farm Loan Association in Merrillan in 1920. He was a 32d degree Mason, past master of the Merrillan Lodge, and a pastpatron of the Wisconsin Grand Lodge of the Eastern Star. He is survived by his wife Bessie, a daughter Mrs. Arthur (Jerry) Henney,Altoona; and three sons William of Wisconsin Rapids, Rulef of Green Bay, Gibsonof Merrillan; one brother Earl of Milwaukee." (End of Hugh (Milw.) transcripn.

Sources