Dad's Merchant Marine Days Part 3 Gil

Dad had quite a few pictures of a man that he identified as Gil in this photo album.  I don't recall my dad ever talking about him but I felt sure they must have met on one of the ships they were assigned to and had become good friends.

I looked for records on Gil through ancestry.com and believe it or not, his first name and surname are common enough that I hit a few walls.  My dad misspelling the surname didn't help!  It was through Find A Grave that I actually made contact with a family member who forwarded my message to Gil's son, John Reiland.  I've become acquainted with Gil's sister, too.

Gilbert J. "Gil" Reiland, was born in 1928 and was raised in North Dakota.  I found him on ship's manifests as a crew member starting about 1945 so he would've been the same age as my dad when he joined the Merchant Marines.

My dad is behind the crossed arms of Lenny and Gil.

 My dad is sitting in the chair.

It would appear that Gil left the Merchant Marines about 1948 or 1949.

As told to me by his son John, Gil went to work for the Union Pacific Railroad at different locations in North Dakota and in 1950, married Elizabeth "Beth" Sayler, a teacher in Coleharbor, North Dakota.  In 1952, the family moved to Omaha, Nebraska where Gil was enrolled at the Grace Bible Institute.  In the summer of 1969 the family moved to central California where Gil became the pastor of a church.   When Gil retired from the ministry, he sold insurance.  Beth passed away in 2012.  Gil currently lives in California.

John looked through some of Gil's photographs and found a couple with my father in them.  He was kind enough to share them with me.  My dad is on the far right in both of them.  Doesn't he look so very young?!

My gratitude to John Reiland for permission to publish this post :-)