A story of love, loss behind Milwaukee’s Christmas tree
The two trees started small, like any plant.
Edward and Kathy Gill watched as they grew, reaching higher and stretching wider, year after year, outside their home on Milwaukee’s far northwest side.
The couple decided to enter one of them — the Colorado blue spruce — into the city Christmas tree contest three years ago. It came in second.
This past summer, they noticed the spruce looking a little worn and deteriorated. More than 20 years old, it was nearing the end of its lifespan. They hired a tree service company to treat it and the spruce perked up.
Then came a call in late October from the city’s Department of Public Works: Your tree is the best this year. Do you still want to donate it?
“We’d love to,” they recalled saying. Since late November, the 35-foot spruce has stood next to City Hall downtown, decked with 3,500 lights and
more than 200 ornaments.
It’s Milwaukee’s Christmas tree. But for the Gills, it will always be “Eddie’s Tree.”
A tragic car crash
The couple met at the Milwaukee School of Engineering. Both came to the city for school; he from Philadelphia, she from Michigan. Edward was an engineering student. Kathy rented a dorm room on campus while attending Patricia Stevens Career College.
After marrying in 1977, they welcomed their first son, Eddie, in 1978, and their second, Andy, three years later. Then came their youngest sons, Tim and Joe.
The boys attended Heritage Christian School, where Kathy worked as a teacher’s aide. Edward worked at an engineering firm. After Eddie graduated, he joined his dad on the job, to learn about the trade before college. The firm’s latest project was designing and constructing Miller Park.
For Eddie, a first-baseman and power hitter on his high school team and a Brewers fan, it was a dream come true.
On March 17, 1998, Eddie and his brother, Andy, drove to a nearby grocery store to pick up cheese and meat for lunch the next day. One of their younger brothers, Tim, wanted to go with them, but their parents said no since it was about 9 p.m.
The teens never made it home.
They were killed in a crash with an on-duty city police officer, two blocks from their house. Eddie was 19, Andy only 16.
“It was the worst day of our lives,” their father said.
Planting a legacy
Kathy decided to plant trees in honor of their sons: a blue spruce for Eddie, the free spirit who loved sports, and a red maple for Andy, the budding animation artist who loved writing and drawing.
“They’ve been good reminders of our boys and the good times we had as a family,” Edward said.
The spruce tree has led to new memories for the family, too.
Milwaukee Forestry Services harvested the tree Nov. 9 and saved about 25 pounds of boughs for Black Husky Brewing to use in Sproose, a seasonal double IPA.
Brewery owners Tim and Toni Eichinger invited the Gill family and Public Works staff to a special bottling session.
They sampled beer right out of the vat and helped put special stickers on the cans — “it was a lot of fun,” Edward Gill said.
Proceeds from the beer benefit the Milwaukee Urban Forestry Fund, which supports tree-planting projects across the city.
On Nov. 23, the Gills stood outside with Mayor Tom Barrett as he dedicated the tree to essential workers during the coronavirus pandemic.
“I was insistent that we have a tree,” Barrett said at the ceremony. “Because I think given what we’ve experienced in 2020, it’s probably more important than ever that we have a Christmas holiday tree.”
Tim Gill spoke on behalf of his family, describing how they decorated the spruce tree every December with strands of lights until it grew too tall for them to reach.
“We’re excited tonight to see it lit up brighter than ever,” Tim said.
Then, the small group counted down and Tim’s 6-year-old son, Solomon, flipped a switch, illuminating the tree. “We were wowed,” Edward said. The Gills have driven downtown to see Eddie’s tree since then, happy to share it with the community.
The red maple — Andy’s tree — still stands tall in their yard.