By Deborah Larsen
Gerrit Henry Fletcher
Gerrit Henry Fletcher was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on March 1, 1908, the son of Claude and Anna Ebelink Fletcher. Gerrit grew up in Portage, Michigan, and earned his teaching degree from Western Michigan College (now Western Michigan University) in 1928. He taught high school history in several schools in the Thumb before joining the faculty of Rochester High School in 1936.
Gerrit began his army career as a reservist in 1930 while he was teaching. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1934 and attended the army’s infantry school at Fort Benning, Georgia. He was ordered to active duty in September 1940 and was sent to the South Pacific in September 1941. He was stationed in Australia and New Guinea with the 7th U.S. Amphibious Force until ordered back to the U.S. in 1944 to attend command school at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
After the war, Gerrit, then a lieutenant colonel, was stationed with the Signal Corps at Washington, D.C. He was released from active duty in May 1953. Gerrit earned his doctorate in education from the University of Michigan in 1957, and became an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh. In 1960, he accepted a position at the University of Illinois.
Gerrit Henry Fletcher died at age 57 on August 7, 1965, and was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.