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George William Koehler (b. July 4, 1903, d. November 4, 1974)
George William Koehler (son of Leopold William "Dody" Koehler and Elizabet V. Noel)1598 was born July 4, 1903 in People's Hosp., Peru, Illinois1599, 1600, 1601, and died November 4, 1974 in Peru, Illinois1601. He married Christine/Justina Mae Banko on September 19, 1925 in Princeton, Bureau Co., IL1602, 1603, daughter of Jakob Banko and Emelia "Amalia" Jurick.
Notes for George William Koehler:
[dianekoehlerkastelloapril2001.FTW]
Check: Birthdate on SS is July 4, not 3
May 2000
I was so fortunate to have both sets of my grandparents living within a few blocks of my home as I was growing up. The Koehlers lived "just through the yard" as we said. Of course, that was because instead of walking on sidewalks, we cut through neighbor's yards to get to Gramma & Grampa's house.
My little brother Mic once cut through the yard to return a wet paint brush to Grampa's shop. He cleverly dragged it alongside the neighbor's garage on the way. He can better tell that story.
We were always there. I'm told one morning they awoke to a knock on the door very early in the morning and there I was, 4 yrs. old, in my pajamas, having walked down all by myself. This is the home that my brother and his family own & live in now. How great to keep it in our family. Of course, it has been greatly remodeled and improved by them.
I remember the home clearly as it was then. It was really quite small with one bedroom on the main floor, a den, which in my earlier years was the bedroom of Uncle Bud, Grampa's brother who had come to live with them when he became elderly and ill. I remember him, but not too much about it. I know that Gramma cared for him.
The den reverted--actually, it probably was a bedroom to begin with--but became my grandfather's "office". All of us remember it being cluttered with papers on his desk, presumably from his painting business, and always a pile of National Geographic magazines.
The short staircase led to two rooms which the 4 boys shared as they grew up. My brother Mic & I occasionally spent the night there and it was fun to think of our father having slept there as a boy. There was a small attic off the bedrooms with no sub floorso you had to walk on the floor joists, but all the storage items were in there and it was great fun to pick our way over the rafters to get to these items. Amazing that no one fell through the ceiling.
As you walked up the stairs there was a tiny built-in wall cabinet, which attracted us, of course, and the only thing in it was a tiny bottle which contained a very strange-looking item. We learned it was our father's appendix! It still seems strange to me, why they kept that for so many years, and why custody of it didn't go to my father when he got married!
Their home was on the route we took to walk to grade school and so almost daily on the way home Grampa would be outside on the front porch drinking iced tea with Gramma, and we would stop and chat a bit. I remember vividly in hunting season walking to school in the mornings and already there would be a string of ducks on the front porch waiting to be cleaned. This was a family of hunters & fisherman (except for my father who hated hunting, guns & fishing); ducks, squirrel, rabbit, all used for food.
In the back yard was a cherry tree, which we picked from each season for Mom to bake pies. There was also a large dog run. Grampa always had hunting dogs, well-cared for and trained. I think most of them were Springer Spaniels. They were outside dogs, not family pets, but in the cold Illinois winters they came inside and were allowed in the little mud room.
Then, of course, there was the "shop" which was about the size of the 3-car garage. Part of it was used for the painting equipment used in their contracting business (he and his son Jim) and the bulk of it was the workshop for carving duck decoys. This was not considered a hobby, at least I don't think so, although I'm certain they must have loved doing it. But they sold to duck hunters all over IL, and thousands had been made and distributed. (See article in my personal files)
As far as I know, his father Leopold "Doty" was one who began this effort, and his 2 sons "Bud" and my grandfather carried it on. It was amazing to walk in the shop and see hundreds of decoys strung up on wires overhead and there was my grandfather hunched over the work bench painting. Yet we all just took it for granted then. I remember a 50-gallon drum of turpentine just inside the door where all their brushes were hung on wires for cleaning. The smell is part of the picture in my head.
My father never seemed too close to his dad. I don't think he really respected him, although I'm certain he loved him. Grampa apparently had a problem with gambling and lost the paint store. He went into the paint contracting business, which he did for many years, but my dad always felt he was lazy and would rather be hunting, fishing & gambling. I think he was a tough man, and he was always grouching at my grandmother, but never was that way with the grandchildren.
I know he loved to do crossword puzzles (as do I) and I picture him most in his rocker, "his chair" with a puzzle or National Geographic. In later years when they got a television he always watched the nature shows.
Things were very tough on the family during the Depression and as with most families, there were scars left from that time. When Gramma went to work at Debo's Hardware, Grampa was the one at home (not sure why) and he was the cook. He made soups a lot and I always groaned when a pot of vegetable soup came through the yard for us. It always was too peppery for me, but we had to eat it. There were big chunks of carrots in it that seemed to stick in my throat, and to this day whenever I feel I'm going to throw up, the image in my mind is a carrot from Grampa's soup. I have learned to love carrots, but I still don't usually eat vegetable soup. I don't know that he was a good cook, but he was apparently a better one than Gramma, so they say.
Jim and Chris had four boys, three of whom enlisted in the Navy in
WW II, and one serving later in the Marines.----More to follow
jan 10, 1925 marriage date I had been given was incorrect. They were married 4-5 months before Jim was born!!
[Broderbund Family Archive #110, Vol. 1 A-L, Ed. 6, Social Security Death Index: U.S., Date of Import: May 9, 2000, Internal Ref. #1.111.6.138159.23]
Individual: Koehler, George
Social Security #: 344-01-8976
Issued in: Illinois
Birth date: Jul 4, 1904
Death date: Nov 1974
Residence code: Illinois
ZIP Code of last known residence: 61354
Primary location associated with this ZIP Code:
Peru, Illinois
Researched Genealogy & Ancestry.coms
FTM Index
Birth Cert in file
Death Cert in file
Decoy Article in file
Obituary in file
HOW DID THEY MEET/DATE LONG/ WAS HE A PAINTER THEN
More About George William Koehler:
Date born 2: July 4, 19041604, 1605
Cremation: Scatter over duck grounds.1605
Military service: Renowned decoy maker.1605
Occupation: Painting Contractor/owner.1605
Social Security Number: Social Security #: 344-01-8976.1606, 1607
More About George William Koehler and Christine/Justina Mae Banko:
Marriage: September 19, 1925, Princeton, Bureau Co., IL.1608, 1609
Children of George William Koehler and Christine/Justina Mae Banko are:
- +James "Jim" Koehler.
- +Kent L. Koehler.
- +Merle Douglas Koehler, b. April 12, 1927, Peru, Illinois1610, 1611, 1612, 1613, d. May 29, 1995, Peru, Illinois1614, 1614, 1614, 1614, 1614, 1614, 1615, 1616, 1616, 1616, 1617, 1618.
- +Richard K. Koehler.

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