Genealogy Index to Lannon Residents - Past & Present

Louis Gissal & Family

Compiled and Edited by Michael R. Reilly

    No Gissal listed in the 1909-10 Wright's Directory of Waukesha.

 1909-10, circa - Henry Gissal, grandfather of Keith Gissal, comes to Lannon from Alton, Illinois where operated a small quarry along a river bank. He was born in Germany. Henry starts up a small quarry off of Townline Rd. between present day Hwy 74 and Good Hope Rd. (Today it's Halquist's Swede Quarry unit)

1911 - Louis James Gissal (born November 30, 1895) and Frederick "Fred" Eugene Gissal, 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 family live?) 

    After WWI began, the construction business quickly dwindled, leaving little need for stone products. Henry Gissal and his wife returned to Alton, IL. never to live in Lannon again.  Louis and Fred remained in the area (according to Keith, probably in Lannon tavern/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 a spruce 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 (born February 4, 1898) of Elm Brook.

circa 1920 - Fred E. Gissal marries Rose M. ? They have children Wilmer, Kelvin, and Maryland.

1920/Feb. - son Keith Richard Gissal born  in the family 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 and screenings, 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 business this weekend.

1920's, mid-later: Louis worked for a construction company in Milwaukee which was located on the grounds of  the present Milwaukee County Stadium/Miller Park area. He converted a old Dodge car into a truck to use on the job. He worked in the office and/or sales, 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 first house 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 Village incorporation, they moved to the 3rd house.

    At a special election, Tuesday, February 11th, 1930 A total of 65 votes were cast and the following were elected to serve for the period from the date of the election to the first Tuesday in April of this year, when there will be a regular annual election of officers as provided under the Statutes. The following 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 Market day, handing out free wieners and a slice of bologna to the kids. (Busse operated a butcher shop in Sussex from 1910 to 1957.)

                    - Henry Gissal dies and is buried in Alton, IL. His wife dies sometime after.

                    - 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 School moves its' 3rd Grade class to where the Lannon Village Board held its' meetings at the present day China Doll Inc. (closed Oct., 2000), 20481 W. Main St. Keith Gissal and Bill Miller 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 the other for the village Clerk. After the new school was opened in 1939, the village board held their monthly meetings there.

1933/ May - Keith Gissal graduates from Lannon State Graded School's 8th Grade. He played on Lannon's small football team into the 9th and 10th grades.

May 11, 1935 - Boy Scout Troop 25's application for charter was filled out by a "Group of Citizens" with Louis Gissal as its' "Group Chairman". According to the application, the new troop would have regular meetings at the Village Hall in Lannon on Mondays. The application lists Seth Pollard, age 34, occupation - road contractor: Chicago, as the new 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 Louis Gissal, age 40, occupation  - quarry superintendent, as Chairman, with A.P. Walter, age 38, occupation - real estate and livestock, and Herman Gruetzmacher Jr., age39, occupation - stone cutter, as members.  Troop 25 belonged to the Potawatomi Area Council No. 651 Region 7, which was formed in Waukesha on April 23, 1931, serving Waukesha, and parts of Jefferson, Dodge, and Walworth counties. Richard Leland was the Scout Executive at the time of charter which would expire on June 30, 1936, if not renewed. Each adult member or Scouter,  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 join Troop 25 were John J. Butina (age in yrs/mos. - 14/0, Benjamin DeQuardo (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 (age 15/6), Paul J. McCarty (age 16/11), Joseph Wagner (age 13/5), Joseph A. 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 and family.

1935/ May - Keith Gissal gets Letter/Certificate of Achievement for completing Lannon State Graded School's 10th Grade.

circa 1935 - Keith and another boy were duck hunting in the swamp behind the Colgate Post Office. The usually hours for morning hunting had been 1/2 hr before sunrise, this year they changed the starting time to 7 am. They boys fired at "something" before "time" and were arrested by the Game Warden. Since they now had to go to Washington County Court, they contacted Bill Miller's father, "Salty". They all got in Mr. Miller's car and first drove to his brother "Feet's" Tavern in West Bend, who couldn't help them much. Then they visited with another brother, "Murphy", who owned a liquor store. Afterwards they saw Justice of the Peace Hatchholtz (?); he ordered them to pay court costs of $15-16 and they lost the use of the hunting license for the rest of the season, but they got their guns back

Circa 1933-37? - Keith Gissal and Bill Miller caddied at North Hills Country Club in Fussville. On Mondays they could play golf there. Otherwise they would hitchhike out to "The Links" near Appleton Ave. and Silver Spring Rd.

1936-37: A boy from Menomonee Falls attending the Lincoln High School (where Keith Gissal was) had his hand blown off while examining some blasting caps/detonators in Flanagan's store. The dry goods and explosives were kept in a wing that came off the southwest side towards Main St. When news found its' way to the school, dozens of the curious had to go what other damage occurred.

            - Keith played football, working the "end position" because he was just a "squirt". He broke his arm and collar bone the first year there, missing most of the season. He also played baseball on the school's team and was good at it.

            - Keith and his friends would pile 6-8 of themselves into a car, sometimes skipping afternoon classes and drive into Milwaukee or West Granville for a good time. He said they could get one of the cars up to 95 mph chasing around. In those days he said, even as a high schooler, you could go into a bar and have a drink 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 from Lincoln High School in Menomonee Falls.

1938-1939: Keith worked for Huntsinger construction company, building Lannon's new school.

1941: circa - The old two-story St. James rectory (where the north parking is now) was sold to the Louis Gissal family. It was cut in half, then jacked up and 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 the building was reassembled and remodeled, the Gissal family lived back up the street on Good Hope, about three doors west of Lannon Rd. When finished the Cardinal Tavern opened with Louis and Mathilda living upstairs. Today the business is known as the Lannon House Tavern.

        /June 4 - Keith Gissal marries June Keipper of Menomonee Falls. For a while after, until he returned from the war, he and June lived with her parents in Menomonee Falls. 

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 of first born son Terrel "Terry".

1947/Feb., week of 4th - Keith Gissal and wife June were unexpected hosts of 20 "bobby soxers" as a howling blizzard bogged down a MFHS bus near their Lannon home. Blowing drifts blocked some roads for days.

        /July, week of 1st - Sydney Gissal went to a firemen's picnic at North Lake.

1948/March 27 - son Thomas "Tom" is born to Keith Gissal and wife June.

1949/June 21 - Keith and  June's third son Robert Gissal is born.

    Al Feltes had a garage business on the northwest corner of Good Hope and Lannon Rd.; there was a fire that put him out-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 the payments, the Village took it over as a temporary Village Hall. The Fire Dept then became an official organization under Village control. Postmaster Keith Gissal and his wife stepped in and purchased the old building and moved the post office into it after (1966) or just prior to the new Village Hall being opened.. For a while, the post office was even located in a small building just south of  The Dugout.

1964 - new Village Hall is built on the 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 Chiefs Syd Gissal, and Godfrey (Shupe) DeCristofaro, Captains Walter Becker and Harvey Rossman, Lieutenants Robert Monacelli and LaVern Ehly.

1. Syd Gissal  and Godfrey (Shupe) DeCristofaro held positions in 1970.

1970/Apr. - A Post Office real estate man came down, from Minneapolis, to solicit for a new Lannon post office location; he received no replies, other than Postmaster Keith Gissal and wife June's desire to keep it in its' present location (they offered to remodel it); and there it has stayed.

1971 - Louis James Gissal dies.

1972 - Mathilda N. Gissal nee Reder dies. Husband and wife 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 is born.

1985/May. - Village President Terry Gissal leads referendum push against borrowing $1.5 million for construction of major addition to Hamilton High School; he has gotten required signatures - 2,200 - referendum set for June 6th.

1990/1/2 -  Lannon plans celebration of  100th Anniversary of its' Post Office founding and 60 years since it was incorporated as a village. John Eldridge is the Postmaster; he took over for Keith Gissal in 1984.

1994/Aug. 25 - Keith Gissal marries Ramona ?