School History

 

Robert Gisler School was dedicated on April 9, 1969. Like most of the schools in the Fountain Valley School District, it was named after one of our community's pioneers.

 

Robert Gisler was born February 18, 1861, in Altdorf, Canton Uri, Switzerland. He arrived in Ventura, California on June 4, 1874, at the age of 17. On October 31, 1892, in a small Catholic Church in Ventura County, he married Anna Planzer who was born in Switzerland, on January 4, 1873, and had come to Ventura in May 1892, at the age of 19. He moved with his family to the Fountain Valley area in October 1903.

 

Robert Gisler purchased acreage; part of which included the fifteen-acre Robert Gisler School site. As a farmer, he tilled the soil and made many friends in the community. He lived in the Gisler farmhouse until his death on December 22, 1945, passing away at the age of 84. His wife preceded him in death in 1938 at the age of 65.

 

Robert and Anna Gisler were the parents of nine children, four sons, and five daughters. They were educated in the old Fountain Valley two-room grammar school. Walter R. Gisler, his son, served on the Fountain Valley School Board for a term of 18 years from 1930 to 1948.

 

Robert Gisler owned and farmed 140 areas south of Garfield St. between Brookhurst and Ward and 80 acres south of Ellis between Brookhurst and Ward. He was active in the Catholic Church, Knights of Columbus Lodge, Land Improvements, Water District, Farm Bureau, and education.