LONDON MILLS - Former United States Congressman and former Illinois State Representative Gale Schisler of London Mills died on Sunday, February 2, 2020, at 1:50 a.m. at Farmington Country Manor in Farmington, Illinois.
He was born on a farm in Indian Point Township, Knox County, Illinois, on March 2, 1933, to Claire D. and Doris A. (Jacobs) Schisler. He married Carolyn Cochran in November of 1957. They had three children, Kim Schisler, Jill (Kent) Sherwood and Kurt Schisler. They divorced in 1977. On July 26, 1980, he married Gloria Waller Richter in Springfield, Illinois. She survives.
Other survivors are his son, Kurt Schisler of Canton, Illinois; step-daughter, Tamara Richter (Bob-deceased) Burris of Petersburg, Illinois; a granddaughter, Elicia (Justin) Munson of Fairview, Illinois; a grandson, Corey Barnes of Peoria, Illinois; his great-grandchildren, Melody Barnes of Canton, Samantha, Tyler and Connor Munson of Fairview and Emma and David Barnes of Canton; his sisters, Yvonne Lewis of Decatur, Illinois, Jody Dolan of Arlington, Texas, Anita (Brian) Hickok of San Antonio, Texas, and Jeri Schisler of Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina; and several cousins, nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his daughters, Kimberly Jo Schisler and Jill P. Sherwood; one grandson, Aaron Barnes; and his brother, Roger Schisler.
Gale attended Indian Point School, a one-room school, through the eighth grade and later graduated from Abingdon High School in 1951. He then enlisted into the United States Air Force, where he served for four years. After the Air Force, he attended Western Illinois University in Macomb and graduated in 1959 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Education. In 1962, he graduated from Northeast Missouri State Teachers College (now Truman State University) in Kirksville, Missouri, with a Masters Degree.
His first teaching job was in London Mills as a teacher and principal. He was very well-liked and he knew all of his students and wanted them to achieve to the best of their abilities. Then politics came into the picture.
In November of 1964, he was elected to the U.S. Congress. There, he served on the House Committee on Science and Aeronautics (sub-committee on Manned Space Flight), as well as other committees. When returning to Illinois, Governor Otto Kerner asked him to head the Office of Intergovernmental Cooperation, which he did. In 1968, he was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives. He remained there for 12 years, 6 of which he was the Chairman of the Agriculture Committee. He served on a number of other committees – Education, Financial Institutions and Conservation, to name a few. He always listened to his voters and cast his votes in response to what the Fulton County voters indicated through their letters and phone calls. He did his best to help people cut through the red tape and get their needs taken care of. He was proud to help his constituents. When he didn't win re-election in 1980, he became an assistant to the Director of the State's Attorneys Appellate Commission. He retired at the end of 1986.
His time to relax and enjoy life began then. Always a cowboy at heart, he took his horses and headed to Glenwood, New Mexico, for a few months each year. He loved it there – warm weather, friendly people and lots of mountains to ride in. He often helped the ranchers move their cattle to different pastures, or helped build their fences, or whatever there was to do. He hunted, he fished, he read. He just enjoyed life.
After 11 years, he and Gloria took some wonderful trips – four to New Mexico, of course. And again, he had lots of time to read, and he did.
Gale belonged to the Former Members of Congress, NRA and American Legion and was a 32nd degree Mason and 50-year member of the London Masonic Lodge #808 in Silvis, Illinois, and a member of the Missouri Fox Trotters Horse Breed Association.
A funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. Monday at the London Mills United Methodist Church. The Rev. Russ Rhodes will officiate. Burial with military rites will be in the Abingdon Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday at the church.
Hinchliff-Pearson-West Funeral Directors and Cremation Services Abingdon Chapel is in charge of arrangements.
Memorials may be made to the London Mills United Methodist Church, 201 Plato St., London Mills, IL 61544; or Western Illinois University Foundation, 303 Sherman Hall/1 University Circle, Macomb, IL 61455.
Online condolences may be made at www.h-p-w.com.





Published in Peoria Journal Star from Feb. 5 to Feb. 7, 2020

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