George E. Eesley Obituary, Fremont News-Messenger, 5 June 1942

Why this document matters

George E. Eesley’s 1942 obituary is the single surviving narrative source for his life in this archive, and it is also the key biographical anchor for two larger structures:

It documents R. Albert Eesley — the “A. R. Eesley Jr.” of the William Eesley obituary — living at a specific address (1310 Hayes Avenue, Fremont, Ohio) and identifies him as the head of a Fremont OH branch of the Eesley family, with his other children fanning out to Toronto, Youngstown, and Fremont.
It names the next generation — including Daniel Edburn “Dan” Eesley, the San Francisco engineer whose own 2018 obituary is the other long-form source this archive holds on the Albert Robert Sr. branch.

The clipping carries the dual banner of its date: Buy War Savings Bonds runs across both the top and the bottom of the column, the visual mark of six months into the U.S. war effort.

Transcription

GEORGE E. EESLEY

Rites Are Sunday

George E. Eesley, 39, a former Fremont resident, died Thursday while undergoing a major operation in a Kenmore, N. Y., hospital, according to word received by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. R. Albert Eesley, of 1310 Hayes avenue.

Mr. and Mrs. Eesley and daughter, Bess, have gone to Kenmore to attend rites Sunday. The body will be cremated following the funeral. The deceased was a graduate of Fremont Ross high school and Ohio Wesleyan university. He was employed in an airplane factory near Buffalo prior to his illness.

Surviving are the wife, formerly Miss Edna Scaise, of Cleveland; two sons, Richard and Dan; a daughter, Jane; two sisters, Miss Bess Eesley, Fremont, and Mrs. Jack Cassel, of Toronto, Canada; brother, Albert, of Youngstown, and the parents.

What the clipping tells us about R. Albert Eesley’s family

The 1942 obituary establishes:

Address: 1310 Hayes Avenue, Fremont, Ohio (Sandusky County).
At least four children of R. Albert and his wife (alive at the time): George (the deceased), Bess (with the parents in Fremont, unmarried at that date), Mrs. Jack Cassel (in Toronto — one of the Toronto Eesleys), and Albert (of Youngstown, Ohio).
The wife is not named in the clipping — an editorial choice typical of the era when newspaper obituaries identified women through their husband’s name.

What the clipping tells us about George’s family

Wife: Edna Scaise of Cleveland. Her name is later given as Edla “Eddie” Scaife in her son Dan’s 2018 obituary — the 1942 spelling appears to be a printing-room error. See her stub page.
Two sons: Richard and Dan. Dan would go on to become a major Bay Area technology engineer and San Francisco civic figure — his life is documented in his own 2018 obituary.
Daughter Jane — alive at this date; she would die tragically in her youth per Dan’s 2018 obituary phrasing.

Editorial notes

The deceased’s full name is given here only as George E. Eesley — his middle name “Edburn” surfaces only in Dan’s 2018 obituary (where George is named “George Edburn ‘Bus’ Eesley”). “Bus” was the family nickname.
The airplane factory near Buffalo — June 1942, six months into the U.S. war, the Buffalo-Niagara region was at the heart of wartime aviation production. The two most likely employers: Curtiss-Wright (Kenmore plant, P-40 production) or Bell Aircraft (Buffalo, P-39 and P-63 production). Kenmore is itself a Buffalo suburb — George’s death in a Kenmore hospital is consistent with him working at the Kenmore plant.
The clipping’s marginal annotation reads Fremont News-Messenger 6-5-1942 P. 2 C. 6 — that the original print was on page 2 column 6, with the headline carrying over from page 1.

Provenance