Paul Gilbert Pelikan - Social Studies

b. 01/22/1917  Virginia

military: enlisted as a Warrant Officer during WWII from 10/06/1942

d. 08/18/1990 in Waukesha Co., WI

--information from ancestry.com--

Paul G. Pelikan Longtime teacher, coach, Democratic leader

Services will be Tuesday for Paul G. Pelikan, a retired teacher and coach who died Saturday at Waukesha Memorial Hospital after a three-week illness. He was 73.
Pelikan, of Waukesha, taught at North Division High School from 1954 to 1958, then transferred to Custer High School, where he taught until he retired in 1979. During a 25-year career with the Milwaukee Public Schools, he taught mathematics, English, geography and history. He coached baseball, basketball and football.

His wife, Lois, attributed much of his success in education to his sense of humor.  "He enjoyed school tremendously," she said. "He enjoyed the young people that was life. He was very sympathetic and was a great listener."
Pelikan earned a bachelor's degree from the former Platteville State Teachers College in 1940 and a master's degree from the former Milwaukee State Teachers College in 1951.

He served the community in many ways. He was the former chairman of the Waukesha County Democratic Party, a former board member of the Waukesha Civic Theatre, the former president of the Waukesha County chapter of the United Nations Association of America, and the former president of the Milwaukee Parent-Teacher Association.  He served several terms as president of the PTA at Blair Elementary School in Waukesha and taught from 1946 to 1954 at the Milwaukee School for Boys, which was located in Waukesha at the time.

He was a former member of the Knights of Pythias, a national lodge now disbanded, and a member of First United Methodist Church in Waukesha.
He was a lieutenant colonel in the US Army Reserve and served in both World War II and the Korean War.
His hobbies included gardening, woodworking, bridge, and writing historical articles and opinion pieces for newspapers.
Besides his wife, he is survived by a son, Robert (Ann) of Waukesha; three daughters, Paula Raebel of Waukesha, Donna (Joe) Boxhorn of Wind Lake and Debbie (Jeff) Schuhwerck of Minneapolis, Minn.; a brother, Robert, of Shipman, Va.; five sisters, Alice Pelikan of Milwaukee, Peggy (Gordon) Culver of Colorado Springs, Colo., Frances Venske of Edgerton, Eunice Keppler of Kiel and Margaret Gibbon of Dodgeville; and nine grandchildren.
A memorial service will begin at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at First United Methodist Church, 121 Wisconsin Ave., Waukesha. The Rev. Frank Gaylord will officiate. Arrangements are being handled by the Rudolph-Larsen Bros. Funeral Home, 502 N. East Ave., Waukesha.
The family suggests memorials to the American Liver Foundation, the Waukesha Civic Theatre or First United Methodist Church.

--Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI) (Published as The Milwaukee Journal) - August 20, 1990--