Louis Gissal & Family
Compiled and Edited by Michael R.Reilly
Last Revised 03/03/2005
No Gissal listed in the 1909-10 Wright’sDirectory of Waukesha.
1909-10, circa – Henry Gissal, grandfather of KeithGissal, comes to Lannon from Alton, Illinois where operated a small quarry alonga river bank. He was born in Germany. Henry starts up a small quarry offof Townline Rd. between present day Hwy 74 and Good Hope Rd. (Today it’s Halquist’sSwede Quarry unit)
1911 – Louis James Gissal (born November 30, 1895) and Frederick”Fred” EugeneGissal, two of his sons, arrive in Lannon. Both work for their father;Henry,in the quarry with Fred working the books and selling. (Where did the familylive?)
After WWI began, the construction businessquickly dwindled, leaving little need for stone products. Henry Gissal andhis wife returned to Alton, IL. never to live in Lannon again. Louisand Fred remained in the area (according to Keith, probably in Lannontavern/boarding rooms).
11/15/1918, 1 – Louis (pronounced “Louie“) Gissal writes home, ;to family members in Lannon. Louis was drafted into the Army early in WWI and sent to Oregon to work in aspruce plant, making wooden airplane parts. Never left the U.S. or saw combat.Caught pneumonia there and was very sick for a while. (Was Fred drafted too?)
1919 – Louis Gissal marries Mathilda N. Reder (bornFebruary 4, 1898) of Elm Brook.
circa 1920 – Fred E. Gissal marries Rose M. ? They havechildren Wilmer, Kelvin, and Maryland.
1920/Feb. – son Keith Richard Gissal born in thefamily home on the south side of Good Hope Rd. just two doors east of Lannon Rd.
1925, circa – F.E. Gissal Quarry Co. crushed stone andscreenings, made curbing and building stone
1926/June 30 – Second son Sydney Gissal born.
1928/Feb. 28 – Town of Menomonee Clerk Fred Gissal in Milwaukee on businessthis weekend.
1920’s, mid-later: Louis worked for aconstruction company in Milwaukee which was located on the grounds of the present Milwaukee County Stadium/Miller Park area. He converted a oldDodge car into a truck to use on the job. He worked in the office and/orsales, but had to haul things around at times.
From a Pre-Incorporation Census of N.E. Sec. 19 (This area started in the southwest corner of Menomonee Ave. (Lannon Rd.)and Vail Ave. (Good Hope Rd.) The following Gissal members are included:
Louis Gissal (HOF), Mathilda Gissal, Keith Gissal, Sydney Gissal
Fred Gissal (HOF), Rose Gissal, Wilmer Gissal, Kelvin Gissal,Maryland Gissal
By this year Fred Gissal family occupied (owned?) the firsthouse on the corner. The Louis Gissal family had moved from their first (?) home(see 1920/1920/Feb) to the 4th house from the corner, then or after Villageincorporation, they moved to the 3rd house.
At a special election, Tuesday, February 11th,1930 A total of 65 votes were castand the following were elected to serve for the period from the date of theelection to the first Tuesday in April of this year, when there will be aregular annual election of officers as provided under the Statutes. Thefollowing were chosen: Trustees – Louis Gissal
1930’s: early – Keith Gissal remembers (as a little boy) when Charles Busse drove through Lannon in the “Meat Wagon” on Meat Marketday, handing out free wieners and a slice of bologna to the kids. (Busseoperated a butcher shop in Sussex from 1910 to 1957.)
– Henry Gissal dies and is buried in Alton, IL. His wife dies sometimeafter.
– Keith and friend Bill Miller were bat boys on a village baseball team(probably “Land O’ Rivers league“) his father Louis coached.
Summertime fun was swimming in some of the local quarries.
1930’s: early-mid – the over-crowded, two-story Lannon State Graded Schoolmoves its’ 3rd Grade class to where the Lannon Village Board held its’ meetingsat the present day China Doll Inc. (closed Oct., 2000), 20481 W. Main St. Keith Gissal and BillMiller playing in village hall, there was an old organ, building was a church at some time.There were two offices in the front, one for the Justice of the Peace, and theother for the village Clerk. After the new school was opened in 1939, thevillage board held their monthly meetings there.
1933/ May – Keith Gissal graduates from LannonState Graded School’s 8th Grade. He played on Lannon’s small footballteam into the 9th and 10th grades.
May 11, 1935 – Boy Scout Troop 25‘sapplication for charter was filled out by a “Group of Citizens”with Louis Gissal as its’ “Group Chairman”. According tothe application, the new troop would have regular meetings at the Village Hallin Lannon on Mondays. The application lists Seth Pollard, age 34,occupation – road contractor: Chicago, as thenew Scoutmaster, with Lester Golner, age 27, occupation – quarry office, and Millard Pollard,age 19, no occupation listed, as the Assistant Scoutmasters. The Troop Committee consisted of LouisGissal, age 40, occupation – quarry superintendent, as Chairman, with A.P. Walter, age38, occupation – real estate and livestock, and HermanGruetzmacher Jr., age39, occupation – stone cutter, as members. Troop 25 belonged to the Potawatomi Area Council No. 651 Region 7, which was formed in Waukeshaon April 23, 1931, serving Waukesha, and parts of Jefferson, Dodge, andWalworth counties. Richard Leland was the Scout Executive at the time of charterwhich would expire on June 30, 1936, if not renewed. Each adult member orScouter, and Scout, the boy, had to pay a yearly membership dues of$1.00, of which 50 cents was to cover a year’s subscription to the publication Scouting.
The first boys to joinTroop 25 were John J. Butina (age in yrs/mos. – 14/0, BenjaminDeQuardo (age 13/6), Walter E. Fucik (age 12/10), Anthony J.Grgich (age 17/2), David L. Grgich (age 14/10), Keith R. Gissal(age 15/4), Arthur H. Gruetzmacher (age 14/11), Chas. F. Hilger(age 13/0), John J. Miller (age 13/4), William J. Miller (age15/6), Paul J. McCarty (age 16/11), Joseph Wagner (age 13/5), JosephA. Walter (age 13/2), and Richard R. Walsh (age 16/2).
The Troop did submit a renewal application on June 29, 1936 along with a “Dropped Scout & Scouter Notice” indicating that John J. Butina and David L. Grgich dropped due to “lost interest” and Keith R. Gissal because“work interfered” (see below). Assistant Scoutmaster Millard Pollard also dropped due to “lack of time”.
“work interfered” -Keith said that he was working in the quarries to help support his parents andfamily.
1935/ May – Keith Gissal getsLetter/Certificate of Achievement for completing Lannon State GradedSchool’s 10th Grade.
circa 1935 – Keith and another boy were duckhunting in the swamp behind the Colgate Post Office. The usually hours formorning hunting had been 1/2 hr before sunrise, this year they changed thestarting time to 7 am. They boys fired at “something” before”time” and were arrested by the Game Warden. Since they now had to goto Washington County Court, they contacted Bill Miller’s father,”Salty”. They all got in Mr. Miller’s car and first drove to hisbrother “Feet’s” Tavern in West Bend, who couldn’t help them much.Then they visited with another brother, “Murphy”, who owned a liquorstore. Afterwards they saw Justice of the Peace Hatchholtz (?); he ordered themto pay court costs of $15-16 and they lost the use of the hunting license forthe rest of the season, but they got their guns back
Circa 1933-37? – Keith Gissal and Bill Miller caddiedat North Hills Country Club in Fussville. On Mondays they could play golfthere. Otherwise they would hitchhike out to “The Links” nearAppleton Ave. and Silver Spring Rd.
1936-37: A boy from Menomonee Falls attending theLincoln High School (where Keith Gissal was) had his hand blown off while examining some blastingcaps/detonators in Flanagan’s store. The dry goods and explosives were kept in awing that came off the southwest side towards Main St. When news found its’ wayto the school, dozens of the curious had to go what other damage occurred.
– Keith played football, working the “end position” because he wasjust a “squirt”. He broke his arm and collar bone the first yearthere, missing most of the season. He also played baseball on the school’s teamand was good at it.
– Keith and his friends would pile 6-8 of themselves into a car, sometimesskipping afternoon classes and drive into Milwaukee or West Granville for a goodtime. He said they could get one of the cars up to 95 mph chasing around. Inthose days he said, even as a high schooler, you could go into a bar and have adrink as long as you behaved yourself.
– During their last year in high school, they took turns driving to school.Otherwise they had to hitchhike or bum a ride.
1937/May 30 – Keith Gissal graduates fromLincoln High School in Menomonee Falls.
1938-1939: Keith worked for Huntsingerconstruction company, building Lannon’s new school.
1941: circa – The old two-story St. James rectory (where thenorth parking is now) was sold to the Louis Gissal family. It was cut in half,then jacked upand moved eastward on Hwy 74 and Good Hope Rd., then east on Good Hope to its’ present location,just east of Lannon Rd., a few doors down the hill on the north side. While thebuilding was reassembled and remodeled, the Gissal family lived back up thestreet on Good Hope, about three doors west of Lannon Rd. When finished the CardinalTavern opened with Louis and Mathilda living upstairs. Today the business isknown as the Lannon House Tavern.
/June 4 – Keith Gissalmarries June Keipper of Menomonee Falls. For a while after, until hereturned from the war, he and June lived with her parents in MenomoneeFalls.
1943 – Keith is drafted into the Army. Was Syd drafted?
1945/Sept, week of 19th – Cpl. Keith Gissal on a week furlough from Scott Field,Illinois.
1946/March 15 – Keith Gissal and wife June becomes parents offirst born son Terrel “Terry”.
1947/Feb., week of4th – Keith Gissal and wife June were unexpected hosts of 20 “bobbysoxers” as a howling blizzard bogged down a MFHS bus near their Lannonhome. Blowing drifts blocked some roads for days.
/July, week of 1st – Sydney Gissal went to a firemen’spicnic at North Lake.
1948/March 27 – son Thomas “Tom” is born to Keith Gissal and wifeJune.
1949/June 21 – Keith and June’s third son Robert Gissalis born.
Al Feltes had a garage business on thenorthwest corner of Good Hope and Lannon Rd.; there was a fire that put himout-of-business. The Fire Dept purchased the building and land, then erected a”Butler” building for use as a fire house. Unable to keep up with thepayments, the Village took it over as a temporary Village Hall. The Fire Deptthen became an official organization under Village control. Postmaster Keith Gissal and his wife stepped in andpurchased the old building and moved the post office into it after (1966) orjust prior to the new Village Hall being opened.. For a while, the postoffice was even located in a small building just south of The Dugout.
1964 – new Village Hall is built onthe southeast corner of Main St. (Hwy 74) and Lannon Rd.
1965 – the Lannon Lions Club is formed.
1970/Jan. – Lannon Fire Chief is Keith Gissal (and Postmaster), Assistant ChiefsSyd Gissal, and Godfrey (Shupe) DeCristofaro, Captains Walter Becker and HarveyRossman, Lieutenants Robert Monacelli and LaVern Ehly.
Year Fire Chief 1st Assistant Chief 2nd Assistant Chief 1960-64 Louis Gissal 1964 – 1985+ Keith Gissal 1. 1. 1990 Syd Gissal
1. Syd Gissal and Godfrey (Shupe)DeCristofaro held positions in 1970.
1970/Apr. – A Post Office real estate man camedown, from Minneapolis, to solicit for a new Lannon post office location; hereceived no replies, other than Postmaster Keith Gissal and wife June’sdesire to keep it in its’ present location (they offered to remodel it); andthere it has stayed.
1971 – Louis James Gissal dies.
1972 – Mathilda N. Gissal nee Reder dies. Husband andwife are buried together at St James cemetery.
circa 1980 – Tom Gissal Marries Yvonne ?
circa 1981 – Eric Gissal, son of Tom and Yvonne is born.
circa 1983 – Cassandra, daughter of Tom and Yvonne isborn.
1985/May.- Village President Terry Gissal leads referendum push against borrowing $1.5million for construction of major addition to Hamilton High School; he hasgotten required signatures – 2,200 – referendum set for June 6th.
1990/1/2 – Lannon plans celebration of 100thAnniversary of its’ Post Office founding and 60 years since it was incorporatedas a village. John Eldridge is the Postmaster; he took over for Keith Gissal in1984.
1994/Aug. 25 – Keith Gissal marries Ramona ?
Ramona and Keith Gissal c.1997
Sydney and Jeanette Gissal c. 1997
James & Lynn Gissal, Sherry & Bryan
Sydney and Jeanette Gissal’s children are James, Richard, and daughter Gloria.