Gerhardt H. "Gay" Hesse (1894-1974)

HESSE, OLSEN, FLEMING, NEWEL, BRUNSON, DUNN

Posted By: jane austin (email)
Date: 6/8/2017 at 02:38:09

Services here Friday for Farm Bureau, Legion founder,

Former Iowa Legislator and northwest Iowa agricultural leader G. H. Hesse died Tuesday at a veterans' hospital in Butler, Pa. He had been visiting a daughter in Butler.

Mr. Hesse helped found the Farm Bureau in Iowa, the American Legion in Iowa, and Little League Baseball in the state.

He was born Oct. 3, 1894, in Minonk, Ill. He moved to Hartley with his parents and was graduated from Hartley High School in 1913. He attended the University of Minnesota and served in the army during World War I.

He married Margaret Olsen Feb. 2, 1918 at Sioux City. She died Jan. 4, 1974.

He had lived in Rock Rapids the last 25 years. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge and the United Methodist Church. Services will be at 2 p.m. Jan. 31 in the United Methodist Church in Hartley. The Rev. Walter Phelps, of the Rock Rapids United Methodist Church, will officiate. Burial will be in Pleasant View Cemetery in Hartley under the direction of the Baumgarten Funeral Home in Hartley. Military graveside rites will be conducted at the cemetery.

Survivors include three daughters, Mrs. William H. (Billie) Fleming of Butler, Pa., Mrs. Warren (Betty Lou) Newel of Harrisburg, Pa., and Mrs. H. R. (Gayle) Brunson of Wichita, Kan.; seven grandchildren; a great-grandson; a brother, William of Hartley; and a sister, Mrs. Everett (Dorothea) Dunn of Hartley.

Hartley (Iowa) Sentinel, Jan 30, 1974, p1