William "Bill" W. Gillis
August 13, 1923 - September 6, 2013
Dallas - William "Bill" W. Gillis passed away on Sept. 6, 2013 from complications from a fall. He was 90 yrs old. Bill was born on August 13, 1923 to Ora and Donnah (Hoffman) Gillis in Little Grant, Wisconsin and was the youngest of five children. In 1929, the family moved to Leavenworth, WA. Bill attended Leavenworth High School and excelled in sports, playing football, basketball, baseball, ice skating, track/hurdles, skiing and jumping over 100' on the "B" ski jump.
In February 1943, Bill joined the Army and was sent to the Pacific. He served in the 27th NY Infantry/Recon unit in the Marshall, Gilbert and Marianna Islands and at Guadalcanal. He was wounded and received the Purple Heart at the Battle of Saipan.
In December of 1945, he married his high school sweetheart Virginia Gentle and graduated from Monmouth High School in June of 1946.
Bill and Virginia lived in Eureka, Seattle and Sweet Home before returning to Monmouth in 1953. Bill worked for Willamette Industries and several logging companies out of Dallas where he lived the past 30 years. Bill was an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed hunting, fishing, hiking, gardening, woodworking and feeding the birds. On family camping trips he would always stop and talk about the trees and wildlife. He always enjoyed being around young people and was generous with what he had and was a great storyteller.
He was preceded in death by his parents, sisters Vi Stevens, Jane Brender, Lea Franklin and Grace Hatmaker. He is survived by his wife Virginia of Dallas, daughter Kathleen (Don) Blevins of Lebanon, son Grant (Debbie) of Deer Island, grandchildren Carrie Gillis of St Helens and Will Gillis of Deer Island. 5 nieces and nephews in Wa.
Graveside services will be held on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2013 at Monmouth Fircrest Cemetary at 10:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the following charities. Salem Friends of Felines (Salemfriendsoffelines.org), Turtle Ridge Wildlife Refuge Center (turtleridgewildlifecenter.org,) or St Labre Indian School (stlabreindianschool.org). Farnstrom Mortuary is caring for the family. Please share your memories and condolences at
www.FarnstromMortuary.com
.