Gerald Everett Myers was born June 30, 1914, in Aurora, Kane County, Illinois, on the family farm that was located on the Lincoln Highway.
Gerald was a fourth generation Napervillian. His great grandfather Elias had emigrated to Illinois from Lancaster, PA, in 1844, settling the land at what is now the Southeast corner of 95th Street and Route 59.
Gerald was the son of Bernard Elias Myers and Mabel Anna Quantock. He attended a one-room school house and then graduated from East Aurora High School in Aurora, Illinois, in 1930 at age 16. The school teacher lived with them on the farm and it is supposed that he helped Gerald graduate at such a young age.
The family lived for approximately one year in the Century House in Naperville when the Great Depression forced them to leave the farm in Aurora. His family then moved to Wheatland Township, Will County.
In 1934, Gerald received a Bachelor of Science degree in Fire Protection Engineering from the Armour Institute of Technology in Chicago.
On April 22, 1938, he married Roberta Vienna Imlay in Springfield, IL, and they were the parents of five children: Evan Paul, Mark Withington, Jerriann Judith (who married Donald Gilbert Wilson), Holly Inga and Philip Brian.
Roberta died Nov. 14, 1991, and Gerald then married Gisele Johanna Heine Balint July 8, 1998, in Collier County, FL.
He received his juris doctorate from John Marshall Law School. Gerald was a partner with John F. Prescott in the Prescott Myers Insurance Agency of Naperville which they founded in 1957 and lasted for 20 years.
He was co-founder and former chairman of Myers Briggs and Co. of Chicago; and the founder and chairman of the board of Pediatrics Insurance Consultants.
Gerald also was a member of the Chicago, Illinois and American bar associations; the Society of Fire Protection Engineers; and the Society of Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriters, having been president of its National Society in 1958. Gerald was a Chartered Life Underwriter and a former trustee of the Harry J. Loman Foundation.
In addition, Gerald was a former member of the Naperville YMCA board; a past member of the Naperville Plan Commission from 1974 to 1975; a Naperville City Council member from 1977 to 1981; the former chairman of the Naper Settlement and Museum board; a former board member of the Central Area Naperville Development Organization (CANDO); a member of Naperville Congregational Church; a 52-year member of Euclid Lodge No. 65, A.F. & A.M., and a member of Medinah Shrine, Chicago. Gerald was active in the International Congregational Fellowship, for which he was the treasurer of the American Committee. He was an early supporter of the Naperville Riverwalk.
Gerald was raised a Master Mason November 7, 1950.
Gerald Everett Myers died November 14, 2002, at Rush-Copley Medical Center in Aurora, Kane County, Illinois, and was buried in the Naperville Cemetery.
I would like to thank Holly Myers, daughter of Gerald Myers, and Alex Chivas, grandnephew, for their assistance in the writing of this article.
Harvey Cooper Williams: Naperville Business Man, Public-Spirited Citizen
