Who Was Vollie Gazlay? Alba Michigan's Roll of Honor

Vollie Gazlay outside his brother's home after returning from Europe.

The Great War. One small, northern Michigan town. Thirty-one names. Two photos of one lost monument. One group of curious high school students.

When my students and I began investigating a lost monument to the men who served in World War I from our small community, we had tons of questions. We still have tons of questions, but our hours of research have begun to provide answers.

Vollie Gazlay is a unique enough name, that I figured tracking him down was going to be simple. The one obvious hiccup in that assumption was I wasn't familiar with the name. Some names on the monument remain common in the county. His isn't. As our research progressed, finding Vollie proved to be more difficult that I originally expected. We had learned that some of the names on the monument were misspelled. Other men were known better by their middle names. But with such a unique name, we were at a loss when we could not locate his resting place. We simply could not find Vollie Gazlay.

Within a week of advertising our fundraising to replace the Roll of Honor, I received a call from one of Vollie's relatives. Not only was she able to tell us exactly where Vollie is buried, but she was also able to share photos and some of his story with us! We are grateful for the the family's contribution to our research effort and their financial support to replace Alba's Roll of Honor!

Vollie Irvin Gazlay

BIRTH	4 May 1895
ALBA GRADUATE	unknown
ENLISTED	12 May 1917	Pvt 1st Class & Corporal
BRANCH/UNIT	Army	Co A 1st Engineers
OVERSEAS	7 August 1917 to	19 March 1919
ENGAGEMENTS	Soissons; St. Mihiel; Argonne Forest
WOUNDED/DISABLED	slightly wounded about 11 Nov 1918
DISCHARGED	9 April 1919
DEATH	8 February 1972 (aged 76)	Napoleon, MI
BURIAL	Hillcrest Memorial Park	Jackson, MI

The Gazlay Family (undated) standing left to right: Arnol, Vollie, Flossie, Venus, Bird, Ralph, seated is their mother, Mary

Do you know a name on the Alba Roll of Honor? Would you like to make a donation to replacing it? Contact Jordan Valley Monuments today!