Community mourns founding father of local museum
(Seguin) – Seguin and Guadalupe County are mourning the loss of one of their prized historians. Edward, “John” Gesick, Jr. educator, author, and founder of the Seguin Heritage Museum, has died. Although a native to San Antonio, Gesick for many years dedicated his life to preserving the stories and history of the local area.
An American veteran, Gesick, just before the 80s, settled on his family farm in Seguin. He spent many of those years as an educator sharing his love for history with students at Seguin High School and later at Texas Lutheran University (College).
Having dedicated many personal hours to various community organizations, Gesick’s most treasured contribution is, no doubt, the start-up of the local museum located at 114 N. River St.
Doug Parker, the president of the museum’s board of directors, says he credits Gesick for not only implanting his vision but also for helping to sustain the non-profit operation during some challenging years.
“He was one of the original (founders) along with some key Seguinite people. I call him the Founding Father. John pitched in a tremendous amount of his personal funds to keep the doors open on that museum. Besides the founding father, I think he’s the savior of it to be very honest with you,” said Parker.
Also working alongside him as a volunteer and board of directors was Smokey Taylor. Taylor says Gesick’s passion to know every piece of Seguin’s treasured history is why she believes the museum has successfully collected all of its stories.
“If he felt like something was historically important, he would say. One thing about John is somebody would bring something in, and he could never turn it down,” laughs Taylor. “Everything was important to him and you can’t keep everything. But everything was historically important to him.”
Sharing the stories of the community, however, did not stop at the museum doors. Gesick is also attributed for writing several books. Those books include Under the Live Oak Tree; Seguin and Guadalupe County; Historic Guadalupe County; and The Kickapoo: Keepers of Tradition.
His efforts in establishing the museum, however, might not exactly be the legacy that most folks who knew him will remember.
That’s because Parker says Gesick was as genuine as they get.
“Number one, he was a tremendous human being, a super nice person, very caring — extremely knowledgeable but very humble in his expressing of himself. In other words, there was no arrogance at all in John – very very simple and down to earth but very knowledgeable. He was kind and willing to share the stories that he knew about Seguin and Guadalupe County,” said Parker.
Taylor agrees with Parker and says Gesick’s legacy will also reflect how he lived his life.
“He was one of the kindest men that I ever knew, and he was a gentleman. I never heard him say a disparaging word about anybody. He was always talking about the positivity of people or situations,” said Taylor.
Some say Gesick’s service in the United States Army further prompted an even greater desire to keep history at the forefront. During his 14 years of service, Gesick served as a second lieutenant earning numerous accolades. While a member of the U.S. Army Special Forces in Vietnam, Gesick was seriously injured in combat. Those injuries eventually returned him home to settle his roots in Seguin.
“He was a Vietnam hero, wounded warrior in Vietnam in the Green Beret – special forces. So, he was a brave man as well. You couldn’t help but love him,” said Parker.
Upon learning about his passing, numerous former students took to social media to express their thoughts on Gesick who they say was one of the finest educators to ever serve Seguin.
Some of the posted comments included “He was one of my favorite teachers.”
“One of the finest educators, historians and people I’ve ever been blessed to know.”
Funeral services are planned for 10 a.m. Saturday Feb. 8 at Spirit of Joy Lutheran Church.
Gesick was 81.