Ink-Slinger Profiles by Alex Jay: Edward and Irene Geller

The story of Edward Joseph Geller and his wife, Irene Caplan, is sketchy. A family tree at Anestry.com has the birth, marriage and death information for Geller. He was born in Toronto, Canada, on June 11, 1893. Geller married Caplan on December 25, 1932, in Detroit, Michigan. They had a daughter, Shoshana in 1933.

A border crossing document at Ancestry.com said Geller entered the United States at Detroit on April 30, 1917. The manifest said Geller was a cigar salesman and listed his father, Samuel Geller at 51 Pelessier Street, Windsor, Ontario. From 1908 to March 31, 1917, Geller had been in Chicago, Detroit and Kansas City, Missouri. Geller’s destination was Detroit where his brother Max lived at 185 Delmar Avenue.

Geller has not been found in the censuses.
The 1942 Royal Oak, Michigan city directory listed Geller as a Detroit Free Press salesman who resided at 4320 Hampton Boulevard.

The Detroit Free Press, February 23, 1951, reported the Freedoms Foundation medal awarded to Geller. 

Edward Geller, creator of “The Story of An Ambitious Man” which appears in The Detroit Free Press Sunday comic section, was presented an honor medal by Freedoms Foundation. The feature won second place in the cartoon strip category. 

Geller was among 850 individuals and organizations honored for “speaking up for freedom.” Presentation of awards and the principal address were made by Gen. Omar N. Bradley, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.

…Geller does the research into the lives of his subjects. He is aided in writing the stories by Len G. Shaw, drama editor emeritus of the Free Press. Cartoonists are Frank Williams and William Fanning, of the Free Press, and Max Rasmussen, commercial artist.

Geller, 57, has been a creator of special pages for the Free Press for 15 years. He lives at 3298 Virginia Park with his wife and daughter, Shona.

American Newspaper Comics (2012) said Geller created The Story of an Ambitious Man Who Made Jobs for Thousands Through Free Enterprise for the Detroit Free Press. He was assisted with the writing by his wife and Len G. Shaw. The artists were Frank Williams, William Fanning, and Max Rasmussen. The series began December 7, 1947.

The family tree said Geller passed away in 1954 in Detroit. However, the Free Press, October 16, 1955, had this line: “For space on these pages, phone Edward Geller, Detroit Free Press”. Geller passed away January 1, 1957 according to an obituary in the Detroit Free Press, January 2.

Detroit Free Press Obituary courtesy of Art Lortie

A family tree at Ancestry.com said Caplan, Geller’s wife, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on September 7, 1899. According to the Social Security Death Index, Caplan passed away June 1968, in Huntington Woods, Michigan. 

—Alex Jay