Bio: Ehlert, George H.

Contact: Glory Adams

Email: gloryaec@att.net

Surnames: Ehlert, Galiff, Kulesa

----Source: Bio written by his daughter Glory Adams

Ehlert, George H.

George Heinrich Lewis Ehlert

My father, George H. Ehlert, spent time growing up near Columbia, WI. In 1905 his grandfather, Charles Ehlert had settled on a farm just west of Five Mile Creek on what is now County B. Charles and his wife Louise moved up from Dundee, Ill. with their children, including my father's dad, Arthur Ehlert. Arthur married Gertrude Galiff in 1914. My father was the third child born to them in 1919 in Lowell, WI (Dodge County). He was named George after Arthur's brother George W., who died during the epidemic of 1918. Arthur and Gertrude, along with their children moved to near Oconomowoc when my dad (George H.) was a very young child. From there they moved back to Columbia, WI. They lived on the farm that Charles and Louise had settled on. The exact year of this move is uncertain, but George H. was there for the 1930 census, being 11 years old. He was confirmed in 1933 at the Columbia Lutheran Church and completed eighth grade at the Sunnynook School. At the age of 16 in 1936 he shot a large buck west of their farm. (I still have the antlers.) Arthur worked for the WPA building roads while Gertrude and the children raised beans. Gertrude would take them to Neillsville in the old model T to sell.

Music was a part of the family's life. Arthur had played with his brother George W. in Columbia in about 1917-18. Later, he played with his children. Dad played guitar, fiddle, and accordion. Arthur had a concertina as a young man, but I only remember him playing a fiddle (in the 50's), despite having lost the ends of two fingers in sawmill accidents. Two of dad's siblings also played accordions.

In the late 30's the family moved to the Town of Taft in Taylor County. Prior to WWII my father was in the Civilian Conservation Corps, as a foreman in the Perkinstown area of Taylor County. Just before the war he worked at Great Lakes Naval Hospital. During WWII he was in the African, Sicily, and China campaigns with the Flying Tigers. It was the army that changed his name to George Henry Ehlert.

After the war he farmed until 1952, delivered gasoline and oil, did manufacturing work and finally joined the Traffic Patrol in Taylor County. He later was the sheriff for a brief time. George then became a cross-country truck driver, from which he retired.

He married twice and had four children and six grandchildren. Toward the end of his life he moved to Merrill, WI where he died in 2003 at the age of 84.

I am his oldest child and remember clearly his love of the Columbia Area. We frequently returned and Dad tramped through the woods teaching us names of trees, how to recognize them, and how to read animal tracks. Picnics were held at Wildcat Mound where we hiked up and down the hills. The area was also his first choice for deer hunting. George was so well acquainted with the land that he drew intricate maps for us children of the landscape so we wouldn't get lost. (We were always the ones to drive the deer.) As a result, I also have fond memories of that area from the 50's and 60's.

Note: Gertrude Galoff Ehlert died in 1955. Arthur Ehlert died in the 1967. Of their nine children, only one, Marie Kulesa, is alive at this time.