Gaertner was famously married three times to, and twice divorced from, Belva Eleanora Boosinger, a cabaret singer in Chicago. On March 11, 1924 Belva Gaertner shot and killed William Law in a car in the early morning while she was drunk, and claimed she remembered nothing. Gaertner hired lawyers for Belva and married her after she was acquitted. Belva was the inspiration for the character Velma in the musical Chicago.
William Gaertner is remembered as a pioneer of the scientific instrument industry in the United States. Having spent his young adulthood training with some of the best instrument makers in Germany, he immigrated to the United States in 1889.
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William Gaertner, 84, of 115 Garrison Avenue, Wilmette, died Thursday December 2 at his home. Born in Merseburg, Germany, October 24, 1864, Mr. Gaertner was an inventor and instrument maker. He came to the United States in 1889 after working for various firms in Germany, England and Austria. Before founding the William Gaertner and Company which became Gaertner Scientific Corporation in 1923, he was an instrument maker for the Coast and Geodetic Survey and with the Smithsonian Institute. Mr. Gaertner was active in developing new instruments and improving old designs for the U.S. Air Corps. He is survived by his widow, Mrs. Belva Boosinger Gaertner. Services were held Monday, December 6, at Scott's Evanston chapel with burial at Mr. Greenwood Cemetery.
At his death, most of his fortune was left in a trust for the benefit of his longtime employees. Belva received a small portion of his estate and died in 1965 in California.
William Gaertner is remembered as a pioneer of the scientific instrument industry in the United States. Having spent his young adulthood training with some of the best instrument makers in Germany, he immigrated to the United States in 1889.
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William Gaertner, 84, of 115 Garrison Avenue, Wilmette, died Thursday December 2 at his home. Born in Merseburg, Germany, October 24, 1864, Mr. Gaertner was an inventor and instrument maker. He came to the United States in 1889 after working for various firms in Germany, England and Austria. Before founding the William Gaertner and Company which became Gaertner Scientific Corporation in 1923, he was an instrument maker for the Coast and Geodetic Survey and with the Smithsonian Institute. Mr. Gaertner was active in developing new instruments and improving old designs for the U.S. Air Corps. He is survived by his widow, Mrs. Belva Boosinger Gaertner. Services were held Monday, December 6, at Scott's Evanston chapel with burial at Mr. Greenwood Cemetery.
At his death, most of his fortune was left in a trust for the benefit of his longtime employees. Belva received a small portion of his estate and died in 1965 in California.
Gaertner was famously married three times to, and twice divorced from, Belva Eleanora Boosinger, a cabaret singer in Chicago. On March 11, 1924 Belva Gaertner shot and killed William Law in a car in the early morning while she was drunk, and claimed she remembered nothing. Gaertner hired lawyers for Belva and married her after she was acquitted. Belva was the inspiration for the character Velma in the musical Chicago.
William Gaertner is remembered as a pioneer of the scientific instrument industry in the United States. Having spent his young adulthood training with some of the best instrument makers in Germany, he immigrated to the United States in 1889.
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William Gaertner, 84, of 115 Garrison Avenue, Wilmette, died Thursday December 2 at his home. Born in Merseburg, Germany, October 24, 1864, Mr. Gaertner was an inventor and instrument maker. He came to the United States in 1889 after working for various firms in Germany, England and Austria. Before founding the William Gaertner and Company which became Gaertner Scientific Corporation in 1923, he was an instrument maker for the Coast and Geodetic Survey and with the Smithsonian Institute. Mr. Gaertner was active in developing new instruments and improving old designs for the U.S. Air Corps. He is survived by his widow, Mrs. Belva Boosinger Gaertner. Services were held Monday, December 6, at Scott's Evanston chapel with burial at Mr. Greenwood Cemetery.
At his death, most of his fortune was left in a trust for the benefit of his longtime employees. Belva received a small portion of his estate and died in 1965 in California.
William Gaertner is remembered as a pioneer of the scientific instrument industry in the United States. Having spent his young adulthood training with some of the best instrument makers in Germany, he immigrated to the United States in 1889.
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William Gaertner, 84, of 115 Garrison Avenue, Wilmette, died Thursday December 2 at his home. Born in Merseburg, Germany, October 24, 1864, Mr. Gaertner was an inventor and instrument maker. He came to the United States in 1889 after working for various firms in Germany, England and Austria. Before founding the William Gaertner and Company which became Gaertner Scientific Corporation in 1923, he was an instrument maker for the Coast and Geodetic Survey and with the Smithsonian Institute. Mr. Gaertner was active in developing new instruments and improving old designs for the U.S. Air Corps. He is survived by his widow, Mrs. Belva Boosinger Gaertner. Services were held Monday, December 6, at Scott's Evanston chapel with burial at Mr. Greenwood Cemetery.
At his death, most of his fortune was left in a trust for the benefit of his longtime employees. Belva received a small portion of his estate and died in 1965 in California.
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