Gustave was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, in 1863, and he moved to St. Louis, where he lived with his wife, Elizabeth Donovan, and their six children. 

Gustave was an architect who in addition to designing numerous small office buildings, churches, and similar structures, assisted in the construction of two important St. Louis landmarks, Union Station and City Hall.  Interestingly, his granddaughter, Betty Jane Zimmer, married George Peter Sanftleben, Jr. in one the churches that he designed.