Gale Manufacturing Officials - Historical Albion Michigan

During the next few weeks I’ll be featuring the Gale Manufacturing Company in this column which was in existence here from 1864 to 1968. In the mid-20th century from 1935 until his death in 1953, president of the firm was Burnett J. Abbott (1894-1954).

From our Historical Notebook this week we present a special photograph of Gale Supervisors and Foremen, taken at a Christmas dinner gathering at the Parker Inn around 1948. Notice the rabbits on the table. These are not Easter rabbits, but were table settings president Abbott had prepared and cast there at the Gale foundry for the event. Special thanks to Ralph E. Locke for supplying this week’s photo.

Front row: (Note: the first three men were not from Albion but were guests of Burnett Abbott): 1. Edward Bouchard; 2. Frank Alich; 3. Robert Guy Robinson, a World War I Marine flyer who received the Medal of Honor. For the record, a bottle of "A-1" Steak Sauce is sitting on the table in front of him. Looks just like today’s bottles of the stuff. 4. Burnett Abbot, president; 5. William A. Comstock, vice-president; 6. Chester L. Shepherd, secretary-treasurer; 7. Karl H. Miller.

Center row: 1. Unidentified; 2. Art Ford, personnel manager; 3. Robert Abbott; 4. Carl Lamphier; 5. Al Hollibaugh; 6. David Turnbull; 7. Frank Goll; 8. Lloyd Wilson; 9. Rex Humphrey; 10. Leon Poirier; 11. Harold Kreger; 12. Robert Shepherd (in back, partially hidden); 13. unidentified; 14. Norman Murray, production manager; 15. Don Barlond; 16. Arthur E. Thunold, foundry superintendent; 17. Elijah Payne; 18. (up) Ed Grabbert; 19. (down) Rollo Hastings.

Top row: (Note: the first two men were guests of Mr. Abbott): 1. Dr. Frank Llinn, local optometrist; 2. Richard McAuliffe, local businessman; 3. Lochland Currie; 4. Ralph Houghton; 5. Julius Rutz; 6. Al Fierke; 7. Ralph E. Locke; 8. Louis Heisler.

	Frank Passic — Albion Historian An Albion native and 1971 graduate of Albion High School, Frank Passic has been researching and writing Albion history since 1976. He is the creator of the Albion Historical Notebook, with hundreds of articles appearing weekly in the Morning Star and The Recorder. Frank maintains an extensive personal archive including Riverside Cemetery records, family surname files, genealogies, photographs, city directories, and high school yearbooks. Support his 2026 research at the Historic Albion Michigan Facebook page. Historical Notebook \| From the Archives \| Subject List \| 100 Years Ago \| Alphabetical Index \| Frank Passic Home Page \| Albion History Books \| Contact Frank
	Michigan Prints by Maggie LaNoue Michigan Prints offers limited-edition archival Giclée prints, miniprints, notecards and boxed sets featuring Michigan landmarks, nature, resorts and nostalgia. Each print and card includes a legend on the back with stories about Michigan history. Albion scenes include the Kalamazoo River waterfall and the Blizzard of 1978. Find Michigan Prints online and at local shops. Michigan Prints \| Albion Scenes \| Custom Cards \| Zazzle Gifts
	AlbionMich.net — General Guide to Albion AlbionMich.net is a hub for community life in the greater Albion area, featuring current news, city council updates, river restoration stories, parks and trails. See Albion's beautiful Kalamazoo River waterfall as it looks today — and follow the story of its future restoration. Includes news from The Recorder and stories about Albion's 17 parks. AlbionMich.net \| Albion Blog \| Frank Passic on AlbionMich.net
	General Guide to Albion AlbionMich.net offers two General Guides to the Albion area — one covering community life including city council, veterans, history, youth and wellness resources, and one covering the outdoors including roads, rivers, parks, trails and downtown. Both guides feature stories by local writers including contributors to The Recorder, sorted by topic for easy reference. General Guide — Community \| General Guide — Outdoors
	Robin James — Indices Unlimited Robin James is the editor of the Albion Historical Notebook and has kept Frank Passic's thousands of articles organized and searchable for decades. A trained librarian and archivist, Robin specializes in back-of-book and online indexing, multimedia collection management, and corporate information distribution. He also enjoys strange music and is a contributing editor for Igloo electronic music magazine. For more about his indexing services, visit Indices Unlimited.
AlbionDesign.com — Communications Specialists Since 1981 \| Advertise on AlbionMich.com