MILO E. GNEWIKOW: 1920-2006
A MEMORIAL
About Milo
Born: August 27, 1920
Parents: Erwin Hubert Gnewikow, Bertha Paulene Pufahl
Brothers: Gerald and Norman
Hometown: Wilton, Wisconsin
Father to: Danny (Linda) Gnewikow, Fonda (Danny) Evans, Kevin (Brian Robboy) Gnewikow
Grandfather to: Julie (Scott) Evans Fey, David (Melanie) Gnewikow, Sara (James) Evans Wilburn, Holly (Jeremy) Gnewikow Spencer
Great-Grandfather to: William and Spencer Fey, Millie and Dawson Gnewikow, Alex and Katherine Wilburn, Jude Spencer
Military: Lt. Colonel, USAF (retired)
Occupation: Dairy Farmer, Fighter Pilot, Oil Field Engineer, Carpenter
Never a Dull Moment
Milo grew up the son of a dairy farmer in Wilton, Wisconsin. He was the middle of the three children of Erwin and Bertha Gnewikow. His older brother Gerald managed the family farm for his entire life. His younger brother Norman married the beautiful Janiece and eventually ended up in Des Moines, Iowa.
Milo graduated valedictorian of his small high school and entered the military. While stationed in Montgomery, Alabama for training prior to deployment in 1944, he met Millie Sue Mercer who later became his wife.
During World War II, Milo was stationed in Tunisia and flew bombing runs into Italy and further north in his trusty P-38 Lightning. During one of these runs he was shot down, forced to make an emergency landing on the beach and briefly served as a POW.
After the war, he joined the Halliburton Oil Company as a field engineer and that took him and his young bride throughout the West with their new children Danny and Fonda. Eventually settling in Henderson, Kentucky, their third child Kevin showed up rather unexpectedly.
Milo began his third career as a carpenter, and with Sue and Kevin he moved south where he later retired in the home that he built for his family in Wildwood Estates in Lebanon, Tennessee.
In his later years, Milo survived open-heart surgery, cancer and several other major health problems with a strength and determination to be admired.
