George W. Goeller, founder of the Freeport Leader, was born in 1883 in Manhattan. He attended Commercial High School and began his newspaper career at the age of 17 as a copy boy for the Brooklyn Times. Goeller eventually became an editor at the Brooklyn Eagle.Goeller and his wife Augusta moved to Freeport in 1919 and resided at 77 Smith Street.
In 1935, Goeller started the Freeport Leader which he sold 20 years later. In 1958, he became the editor of the Long Island Graphic and eight years later became semi-retired serving as Editor Emeritus of the L.I. Graphic and the Roosevelt Press.
Goeller was a member of the First Baptist Church of Freeport and the Salvation Army. He was also an honorary guest at the Exchange Club weekly luncheons.
He and Augusta had one child, Harold Goeller. Augusta died in 1950. Goeller died at Doctor's Hospital on February 9, 1968 a few months before his 85th birthday. He is buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Bethel, NY.
Source:
"George W. Goeller Dies," Long Island Graphic. 15 February 1968, p. 1.
