George Marvin Wallhauser

George Marvin Wallhauser (February 10, 1900 – August 4, 1993) was an American Republican Party politician who served as a U.S. Representative from New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District from 1959 to 1965. A member of the Republican Party, he served three terms in the United States House of Representatives, where he contributed to the legislative process during a significant period in American history and represented the interests of his constituents in northern New Jersey.

Wallhauser was born in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Dr. Henry Joseph Frederick Wallhauser and Rachel Apolonia (née Vogt) Wallhauser. He attended the public schools of Newark and graduated from Barringer High School in 1918. Later that year, during the final phase of World War I, he entered the United States Navy and served as a hospital corpsman in the Naval Reserve until 1922. Following his military service, he enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a member of the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity and earned an A.B. degree in 1922. He subsequently pursued further studies in real estate appraisal at Columbia University, preparing for a long career in the real estate and investment field.

After completing his education, Wallhauser embarked on a professional career in real estate and investment that would span more than six decades. In 1927 he joined the United States Realty and Investment Company in Newark, New Jersey. Over the course of 62 years with the firm, he rose through the ranks to become senior vice president and a member of the board of directors, positions he held until his retirement in 1989. His business career ran parallel to an expanding record of civic involvement in his home community of Maplewood, New Jersey, where he would later enter public office.

Wallhauser’s early public service was rooted in local government and community planning. He served as chairman of the Maplewood Planning Board in 1946–1947, during which time the board issued the township’s first master plan. He was a member of the Maplewood Township Committee from 1954 to 1956, where he chaired the building committee responsible for the construction of two public libraries in the town and also chaired the Murals Committee. In Maplewood he was active in youth sports, serving as a manager and coach in junior baseball and as chairman of the town’s junior football committee, reflecting a broader interest in community development and youth activities.

Wallhauser was elected as a Republican to the Eighty-sixth Congress in 1958, succeeding Representative Robert W. Kean, and took office on January 3, 1959. He was reelected in 1960 and 1962, defeating Democrat Robert R. Peacock in both contests, and served in the Eighty-seventh and Eighty-eighth Congresses until January 3, 1965, when he did not seek reelection. During his tenure in the House of Representatives, he served on the House Committee on Post Office and Civil Service. In that role he championed federal pay raises and improvements for postal workers, reflecting his interest in the conditions of federal employees and the efficiency of public services. At the time he served, New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District included the South Ward of Newark, as well as the municipalities of Irvington, Maplewood, Millburn, Livingston, and communities in West Essex County, and he represented these areas during a period of substantial social and economic change.

Following his congressional service, Wallhauser continued to play a prominent role in state and local affairs. In 1970, New Jersey Governor William T. Cahill appointed him as a commissioner of the New Jersey Highway Authority, which oversaw the Garden State Parkway. He served on the authority through the early 1970s and was its chairman from 1972 to 1975, participating in the management and development of one of the state’s principal transportation arteries. His post-congressional years also saw continued engagement in civic, cultural, and charitable organizations across northern New Jersey.

Throughout his life, Wallhauser was active in a wide range of philanthropic and community institutions. He served as chairman and trustee of the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey, a leading regional theater. He was a member and treasurer of the National Board of Directors of the Family Service Association of America and president of the Bureau of Family Service of the Oranges and Maplewood, reflecting his interest in social services and family welfare. He was vice president and trustee of St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, New Jersey, and served as a director of the Maplewood Bank and Trust Company, Yorkwood Savings and Loan Association, and Goodwill Industries of New Jersey. A veteran of the Navy, he was also a member of the American Legion. In addition, he was a Freemason and served as past master of St. John’s Lodge No. 1 of the Grand Lodge of New York, F. & A.M.

Wallhauser married Isabel Towne in 1926, and the couple had two sons, George M. Wallhauser Jr. and Henry, as well as five grandchildren. Isabel Towne Wallhauser died in 1981. Their son George M. Wallhauser Jr. became an influential figure in New Jersey Republican politics, serving as Essex County Republican chairman and running as the Republican candidate for Congress in New Jersey’s 11th District in 1968 against Representative Joseph Minish. The elder Wallhauser resided in Maplewood for 63 years and maintained a summer home at Greenwood Lake, New York. He died on August 4, 1993, at St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, New Jersey, closing a long life marked by service in business, local government, Congress, and numerous civic and charitable organizations.