Gilbert Donald Esau (October 31, 1919 – July 16, 2012) was a

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and a member of the

Minnesota House of Representatives The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the U.S. state of Minnesota's Minnesota Legislature, legislature. It operates in conjunction with the Minnesota Senate, the state's upper chamber, to write and pass legislation, whic ...

from southwestern Minnesota. First elected in 1962, Esau was re-elected in 1964, 1966 and 1968. After sitting out for four years, he opted to run again in 1972, was elected and was re-elected in 1974, 1976, 1978 and 1980.

Background

From the town of Mountain Lake, Esau, was an automobile garage and body repair shop owner. He served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, being deployed in both the European and Asiatic theatres between 1941 and 1945. Prior to being elected to the Minnesota Legislature, he was a member of the Mountain Lake Village Council from 1954-1963.

Service in the Minnesota House

Esau represented the old District 18A and, later, 28A, which included all or portions of

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, Cottonwood,

Jackson Jackson may refer to: Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson South, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson oil field in Durham, ...

, Murray and

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counties, changing somewhat after the 1972 legislative

redistricting Redistricting in the United States is the process of drawing electoral district boundaries. For the United States House of Representatives, and state legislatures, redistricting occurs after each ten-year census. The U.S. Constitution in Art ...

. He was, along with senators Dennis Frederickson, Earl Renneke and

Jim Vickerman James Murray Vickerman (May 1, 1931 – January 19, 2021) was an American politician from Minnesota who served as Minnesota Senate, Minnesota State Senator, first elected in 1986 in the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party's "firestorm" that s ...

, and representatives Aubrey Dirlam, George Mann,

Henry Kalis Henry Joseph Kalis (March 2, 1937 – September 12, 2018) was an American politician who was a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives, representing southern Minnesota. First elected in 1974, Kalis was reelected every two years until he ...

and Wendell Erickson, one of the longest-serving legislators from southern Minnesota in the state's history. While in the legislature, Esau earned a reputation as a strong advocate for

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer ...

s, and as a leader on issues relevant to

criminal justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...

and

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

. He allied with the

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at a time when the legislature was still officially

nonpartisan Nonpartisan or non-partisan may refer to: __NOTOC__ General political concepts * Nonpartisanship, also known as Nonpartisanism, co-operation without reference to political parties * Non-partisan democracy, an election with no official recognition ...

, and later identified as a Republican when party affiliation became required of candidates. Esau served on the House Agriculture, Criminal Justice, Education, General Legislation, Health & Welfare, Transportation and Veterans & Military Affairs committees, and on various other committee incarnations and subcommittees during his nearly 20 years in office.

Active retirement

Esau was active and visible in his community, occasionally commenting on issues of interest and note in the local media. His Christian service work included frequent mission trips to such places as

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

(his father’s birthplace),

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, and the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. In 2009, Esau authored a memoir detailing his military service with the U.S. Army in both the Asian and European theatres during

, entitled ''My World War II Memories''. A series of interviews with him were also conducted to document his experiences as a World War II serviceman. These interviews can be found on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. Esau died on July 16, 2012.

References

External links

Interviews with Gilbert Esau on World War IINewspaper Article (June 21, 1962): "Gilbert Esau Files As Candidate for Representative"Esau Campaign Ad (November 1, 1962)Esau Newspaper Commentary (May 27, 2009): "America needs to make the right choices — right now"Find A Grave Obituary 16 Jul 2012
{{DEFAULTSORT:Esau, Gilbert 1919 births 2012 deaths People from Mountain Lake, Minnesota Military personnel from Minnesota Writers from Minnesota Minnesota city council members Republican Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives United States Army personnel of World War II 20th-century members of the Minnesota Legislature