Gerald Elliott papers

Gerald "Jerry" Albert Elliott (1907-1994) was born October 4, 1907 in Grand Rapids. He attended Straight Elementary School and later Union High School, and after graduating studied music composition and arrangement at Grand Rapids Junior College (GRJC). He then worked for Berkey & Gay Furniture as a supply storekeeper by day, and performed as a musician by night. In 1930 he briefly moved to Chicago but returned to Grand Rapids to again work for Berkey & Gay until their closure shortly thereafter. For the next six months he played with a large dance band at the Regent Theater Roof Garden until he found work writing marketing copy for a company in Greenville. Three years later, the company went bankrupt, so in 1934 he returned to Grand Rapids and began working as a social worker at a center for transient men. In 1938 he married Marie Willdeboer (1910-1948). In 1941 he became an editor at The Grand Rapids Press.

In December 1943, he was drafted into the Army and sent to Camp Lee (now Fort Gregg-Adams) near Petersburg, Virginia for basic training. He was then assigned to the Army postal installation in San Francisco, where his writing experience was put to use crafting speeches for the commanding officer. In 1945, Elliott returned to Grand Rapids and continued writing editorials at The Grand Rapids Press, in addition to music and theater reviews. Not long after, Marie gave birth to their second son, but she and the baby did not survive.

Outside of work for the Press, he wrote speeches and book reviews, edited the Butterworth Hospital Magazine for 20 years, wrote "Grand Rapids Symphony Notes" for 29 years, and wrote fiction and non-fiction magazine articles. He also worked in radio, producing two shows a week for the University of Michigan and providing commentary for the broadcasts of the Grand Rapids Symphony.

In 1957, Elliott married Helen (Smith) Davis (1910-2002), a widow with three teenage sons, and they together shared a blended family until Elliot's death on October 21, 1994. Helen retired as director of volunteer services for the Kent County Department of Social Services in 1976. They traveled extensively together and donated their time to various organizations, with Elliott serving on the executive committee of the Michigan Council for the Humanities, and also as a member of the board of governors and chairman of the Clarke Historical Library at Central Michigan University.