John B. Gagnon papers

Collection — Box: 1

Identifier: RS 21/7/138

Staff Only

Scope and Content

This collection consists primarily materials from Gagnon’s service during World War II, including letters written home and letters from a German acquaintance after returning home.

Dates

Creation: 1944-2001, undated

Language of Materials

English

Access Restrictions

Open for research.

Use/Re-use Restrictions

Consult Special Collections and University Archives

Biography/Profile

John Burke Gagnon was born in Fort Dodge, Iowa in 1922 to Joseph F. and Mary Estelle Burke Gagnon. He graduated from Fort Dodge High School in 1941 and attended junior college in Fort Dodge until he was drafted in December 1942.

Gagnon served with the 409th Infantry Regiment in France, Germany and Austria and returned home in late 1945. After his war service, Gagnon attended Iowa State College (University) and earned a B.S. in Agronomy (1949). After graduation he began selling fertilizer in Albert Lea, Minnesota.

In 1950, he married Phyllis Cadwell of Bakersfield, California. The couple had eleven children. Gagnon retired from his career in the poultry industry in 1991 and moved to Georgia with his wife. Phyllis passed away in 1999 and Gagnon died in 2000.