Background
Gustave May was born in New York City in 1881 to Gustave Charles May (1845–1896) and Estelle Lebrethon, both of French ancestry.
Gustave May was born in New York City in 1881 to Gustave Charles May (1845–1896) and Estelle Lebrethon, both of French ancestry.
In the 1910 municipal election he ran for alderman on the Edmonton City Council, but finished tenth of eleven candidates.
He co-operated the first photo-engraving business in western Canada and served on the Edmonton City Council from 1912 until 1914. He was elected to a one year term in the next election on a single-plank platform of increasing the availability of water within the city, and was re-elected to a two year term in 1912. Having suffered a nervous breakdown earlier in the year, he did not seek re-election at the conclusion of this term in 1914.
His occupation was listed as photographer.
The census recorded him being in the photo business. May moved back to the United States in 1918.
In a draft registration card completed at the time of World War I, May indicated that he was living on Park Avenue in Fairview, Bergen County, New Jersey, and working as a salesman for the Triumph Lamp Company, and a special reporter for a newspaper called the Dispatch. At the time of the 1920 United States Census, he was living on Third Street in Fairview Borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, and working as a newspaper reporter.
He indicated at the time that he was "unemployed due to illness."
Gustave Henry May died on May 31, 1943 at the Bergen County Hospital in Paramus, New Jersey, of an epithelioma.
He was buried at Maple Grove Park Cemetery in Hackensack.