Garrett W. Loy Biography
Garrett W. Loy, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Wood Loy, was born Jan. 18, 1916, on his parents' farm about four miles south of Effingham, Ill. He spent his boyhood there and learned to love agriculture and agricultural activities. As a youth, he was a 4-H member and active in the Methodist Church. He graduated from Effingham High School, where he maintained the highest GPA of any male during the four years he was in school. He also had the highest GPA in the senior class. His outstanding scholastic record earned him a scholarship to Illinois, and he enrolled in the fall of 1936. He received a B.S. in general agriculture in Jan. 1941, qualifying as a vocation agriculture teacher.
While Garrett was an Illinois student, he was actively involved in numerous extracurricular activities, in which he domonstrated strong leadership. He was president of the Horticulture Club and also of the Cooperative League for which he suggested the idea and then spearheaded its formation. He was vice president of the University YMCA, a prestigious and influential post in the era and one that commanded a great deal of respect. It also placed him on the YMCA Cabinet, the organization's governing body. At the time of Garrett's death, the "Y's Indian" paid high tribute to hi and his qualities as one of its leaders, saying, "Garrett Loy was the salt of the earth--high minded, clean-cut, unselfish, and possessed of a deep and abiding faith. As a member of the Cabinet and a Vice President of the University YMCA, he typified that high quality of leadership with which this association has been so richly blessed through the years."
He was active in Wesley Foundation and a member of the General Agriculture Club, Agricultural Council, Alpha Tau Alpha, and the University Class of '40 Cap and Gown Committee.
Within Nabor House, Garrett's leadership was to have a lasting, strongly positive influence on the organization's early development and operation and the shaping and maintaining of its principles, philosophies, and objectives. He did much to give Nabor House unity, purpose, and direction. His leadership was characterized by fellow founders as high-quality, persistent, visionary, and exemplary.
While in summer school in 1939, Garrett found the property at 811 W. Oregon, Urbana, was for sale. He fostered the idea of purchasing it and then took the lead in securing funds to make the purchase. He was Chapter president when the move to 811 W. Oregon was made. In addition, he had the time-consuming vice presidency of the YMCA the same semester. His handling of the situation was described by a brother Nabor this way: "Men who lived in the house in the fall of 1939 when Garrett was president remember his skillful and effective organization of the extensive clean-up and repair activities necessary to ready the house at 811 W. Oregon. In particular, we recall his early morning hammering of apparently imaginary nails to get everyone up and at their assignments before he left for a busy day as the vice president of the University YMCA."
Following Garrett's graduation from the University of Illinois in Jan. 1941, he taught vocational agriculture in Gridley, Ill., near Bloomington. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in Dec. 1941, he resigned his teaching position and joined the Air Corps. One of Garrett's lasting contributions to Nabor House was started while he was awaiting induction and apparently finished after he was in the service. He anticipated the importance of communication among the members and wrote the original issue of the Fraternity's newsletter, the forefunner of today's Nabor Nubbins.
He was first stationed at Ft. Sill, Okla., where he received his officer's commission in the Field Artillery. Several months later, he graduated from a school for liaison pilots and received his wings. After training, Garrett asked for foreign duty and left the states Dec. 26, 1943. He was first stationed in the vicinity of Honolulu for about three months. While he was in Hawaii, he left with us for all time written words that exemplified one of his strongest traits, a knack for developing a philosophy to apply to a situation. In a letter from Hawaii, he said:
While Garrett was an Illinois student, he was actively involved in numerous extracurricular activities, in which he domonstrated strong leadership. He was president of the Horticulture Club and also of the Cooperative League for which he suggested the idea and then spearheaded its formation. He was vice president of the University YMCA, a prestigious and influential post in the era and one that commanded a great deal of respect. It also placed him on the YMCA Cabinet, the organization's governing body. At the time of Garrett's death, the "Y's Indian" paid high tribute to hi and his qualities as one of its leaders, saying, "Garrett Loy was the salt of the earth--high minded, clean-cut, unselfish, and possessed of a deep and abiding faith. As a member of the Cabinet and a Vice President of the University YMCA, he typified that high quality of leadership with which this association has been so richly blessed through the years."
He was active in Wesley Foundation and a member of the General Agriculture Club, Agricultural Council, Alpha Tau Alpha, and the University Class of '40 Cap and Gown Committee.
Within Nabor House, Garrett's leadership was to have a lasting, strongly positive influence on the organization's early development and operation and the shaping and maintaining of its principles, philosophies, and objectives. He did much to give Nabor House unity, purpose, and direction. His leadership was characterized by fellow founders as high-quality, persistent, visionary, and exemplary.
While in summer school in 1939, Garrett found the property at 811 W. Oregon, Urbana, was for sale. He fostered the idea of purchasing it and then took the lead in securing funds to make the purchase. He was Chapter president when the move to 811 W. Oregon was made. In addition, he had the time-consuming vice presidency of the YMCA the same semester. His handling of the situation was described by a brother Nabor this way: "Men who lived in the house in the fall of 1939 when Garrett was president remember his skillful and effective organization of the extensive clean-up and repair activities necessary to ready the house at 811 W. Oregon. In particular, we recall his early morning hammering of apparently imaginary nails to get everyone up and at their assignments before he left for a busy day as the vice president of the University YMCA."
Following Garrett's graduation from the University of Illinois in Jan. 1941, he taught vocational agriculture in Gridley, Ill., near Bloomington. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in Dec. 1941, he resigned his teaching position and joined the Air Corps. One of Garrett's lasting contributions to Nabor House was started while he was awaiting induction and apparently finished after he was in the service. He anticipated the importance of communication among the members and wrote the original issue of the Fraternity's newsletter, the forefunner of today's Nabor Nubbins.
He was first stationed at Ft. Sill, Okla., where he received his officer's commission in the Field Artillery. Several months later, he graduated from a school for liaison pilots and received his wings. After training, Garrett asked for foreign duty and left the states Dec. 26, 1943. He was first stationed in the vicinity of Honolulu for about three months. While he was in Hawaii, he left with us for all time written words that exemplified one of his strongest traits, a knack for developing a philosophy to apply to a situation. In a letter from Hawaii, he said:
"The title of this writing could be 'Nabor Philosophy' or, if you prefer, 'Nabor Ideals.' Ideals--those apparent intangibles, yet so vitally important tangibles in our own fraternity success. Stone Walls do not make a prison; four walls and an altar do not make a church; a house full of men does not make a successful fraternity. I contend, and in agreement with all of you I am sure, that Nabor House Fraternity is every iota as strong, alive, and aggressive, and more so, than ever before. Her philosophy is deeply ingrained in the lives of her members. Now we are testing that philosophy, that way of life. As evidenced by the response...from our boys everywhere, the ties of brotherhood are unbreakable, unbending."
It is from that writing that the "Stone walls..." quotation which is framed and now hangs in the library of the Illinois Chapter Nabor House was derived.
From hawaii, Garrett went to New Guinea. There, he flew and airplane -- his Grasshopper, he called it -- as a spotter for the Field Artillery. By then a First Lieutenant, Garrett's plane crashed and he died from the injuries he received on Oct. 20, 1944, at Ora Bay, New Guinea. He was buried in New Guinea. Then, his body was reinterred at Memorial Cemetery in Effingham, Ill., on July 8, 1948. Garrett married Ella Anne Wente, Sept, 11, 1943. She died May 31, 1966.
Even though Garrett had a very short time with Nabor House, his significant influence on the organization and its member continues. His undying faith, interest, and belief in Nabor House shall stand as a monument to the purposes and ideals upon which the Fraternity was founded.
- As written in "An Idea and an Ideal," a history of Nabor House published in 1989.
From hawaii, Garrett went to New Guinea. There, he flew and airplane -- his Grasshopper, he called it -- as a spotter for the Field Artillery. By then a First Lieutenant, Garrett's plane crashed and he died from the injuries he received on Oct. 20, 1944, at Ora Bay, New Guinea. He was buried in New Guinea. Then, his body was reinterred at Memorial Cemetery in Effingham, Ill., on July 8, 1948. Garrett married Ella Anne Wente, Sept, 11, 1943. She died May 31, 1966.
Even though Garrett had a very short time with Nabor House, his significant influence on the organization and its member continues. His undying faith, interest, and belief in Nabor House shall stand as a monument to the purposes and ideals upon which the Fraternity was founded.
- As written in "An Idea and an Ideal," a history of Nabor House published in 1989.