Gerald J. Boileau

Who was Gerald J. Boileau?

Gerald John Boileau was a U.S. Representative from Wisconsin.

Born in Woodruff, Wisconsin, Boileau served in World War I, attended Marquette University Law School and was subsequently admitted to the bar. He returned to Marthon County and became district attorney in 1926, a position he held until his election to Congress in 1931. Boileau was first elected a Republican to the Seventy-second United States Congress as the representative of Wisconsin's 8th congressional district. For his next term he redistricted to Wisconsin's 7th district and was reelected to the Seventy-third Congress. He was then reelected to the Seventy-fourth and Seventy-fifth Congress but ran as a member of the Wisconsin Progressive Party still representing Wisconsin's 7th district. After his defeat for reelection in 1938, he returned to Wausau, Wisconsin to practice law. He soon after returned to public service as a circuit judge, a position he held from 1942 to 1970 when he retired. He died in Wausau on January 30, 1981.

He was the last surviving man elected to Congress as a member of the Wisconsin Progressive Party.