Over the last 100 years, Gekeler Farms has seen Southeast Boise change and evolve from a pastoral landscape into a bustling family friendly community . When David Gekeler first arrived on this land, he also felt it was a good place to raise a family. David and his family began their journey westward in the late 1800s to begin a new life. David wanted to own a dairy farm and have his family run it. He bought eighty acres to begin this new life. The only problem was once he cleared all the trees off of the land he had purchased, he realized he needed more if he wanted to have a successful dairy farm. David applied for Timber stand, which allows him to clear all the trees on another piece of land, which he did and gained eighty more acres. The funny thing is, that extra eighty acres he gained, he didn’t really own until thirteen years later.
During this time period, David built his family a home on his new land. He built it himself out of mud and brick from the near by Ridenbaugh canal. The house is two stories, with three bedrooms, a kitchen, one bath, and a family room. He built this house in the late 1880s, and it is still standing today. David didn’t just build a house, he also built a very large barn to house all of his cattle. He used the timber from all of the trees he cut down to build it, and the barn is also still standing.
Gekeler had a daughter named Emma, who ended up marrying a man named John P. Tate. John was an insurance salesman and sold insurance to many miners. He was the 8th richest man in Idaho when he was alive. He had the Tate building built in Downtown Boise. John the first and Emma Gekeler Tate had four boys. They had David, John P. Tate the second, who donated the land for Trinity Presbyterian Church and White Pine Elementary School, Phillip Tate who taught at Borah High school when it opened and worked to help transition men from jail back into society, and Paul Tate who started Tate’s Rents in 1946.
David and John P. Tate, the second, the oldest brothers started the dairy in 1923. John married Marjorie Davis and had John P. Tate the third (Pat Tate) who ran the Boise dairy after grandpa died in 1972.
Their next child was Elizabeth Leora Tate who died from multiple sclerosis when I was 6. Emma Suzanne Tate Kopke was born next in 1931. She is 94 and is still alive.(2025) Their last child was Stanton Tate. Jim Tate, Uncle Pat’s oldest managed the M & W on Warm Springs initially. When Uncle Pat sold the dairy, they bought the M & W franchise. Jim Tate has managed the M & W properties for years. Doug, Uncle Pat’s youngest of four children has helped Jim run the stores.
Also, David Gekeler had to have 10 acres of trees at the end of ten years to keep the property he homesteaded. He planted 40 acres and had 29 acres at the end of the ten years. He had 180 acres. Later, John P. Tate the second bought an additional 180 acres. There were 360 acres that have since been developed into house and apartments in what is known as Lakewood in the 1990s. John knew that the city was growing and that the city limits would extend out into his property. He went all over the United States to see subdivisions. Lakewood was his idea. Uncle Pat’s and my dad Fred Kopke helped him make the plans and develop Lakewood.
When asked if they wanted to tear down the old farm house and barn, they choose not to because of the history they had. The house and barn has blood, sweat, and tears from many, many generations of their family and they just couldn’t see them being taken down. David Tate’s granddaughter Elizabeth comments “I actually lived in the Gekeler Farms house with my mother Frances (David G. Tate and Signe Tate’s daughter) and my father until I was 3 when we moved because I fell down the stairs of the root cellar and broke my nose. (Or so the story goes…)” She goes on to say that “The house was flooded when the Ridenbaugh canal broke, gosh I think that was in the 70’s..and my Uncle Bill had it cleaned and partially restored.”
The old farm house was used as the manager’s housing for a few years but now is vacant. Part of the old barn was taken down to create more space for the apartments but about three fourths of the barn is still standing. It is now the head quarters of M&W Food Supply, which is owned by David Gekeler’s great, great grandson, Doug Tate. Doug and his Father, Ron Tate, own the land that the Gekeler Farm apartments sit on, which was passed down to them through the generations.
The Gekeler-Tate family is one of Boise’s first families. They created a family business that has continued to thrive since the late 1800s and are still part owners of Associated Dairies which has a local ice cream plant. All of the families living in Southeast Boise should thank this family for donating the land that we live on today. They have really made a huge impact on the way Southeast Boise was shaped. Even though Triangle Dairy is no longer up and running, we can still the foot-prints that it has left for us to learn from.
All of this information was given to us through the records that Paul Tate wrote through the years. We were also given information from Doug and Ron Tate and Elizabeth Clark and Carolyn Kopke
Historical photos courtesy of Gekeler Farms