On Thursday, January 6, 2022, Earl Delbert Gilmore, a loving husband, and devoted father passed away at age 72 in Houston, Texas, after an eight-year battle with Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD). He was formerly from Bayou Vista, Texas.
Earl was born April 9, 1949, in Beaumont, Texas, to parents Earl D. Gilmore and Lillian Good Gilmore. He graduated from South Park High School in Beaumont in 1967. Shortly thereafter, he enlisted in the United States Coast Guard. After 10 years of service, he returned to Beaumont and then Houston to pursue a career in outside sales with various radar level-gauge companies. He moved to Bayou Vista in 2007, and started work as a cargo-haul escort as a contractor for the Port of Galveston—claiming his job title was “male escort.” He retired in 2013 after his early-onset dementia diagnosis, and then proceeded to go on a cruise marathon from 2013 through 2018, with his wife, Paulette, and other family members. Eventually, he was admitted to a memory care unit in 2018 where he lived until his passing.
Earl was a devoted father who unconditionally loved his children. He had a hilarious sense of humor, a zest for life, an unquestionable love for adventure, and an absolute devotion to the Lord. He will be remembered for his kindness, his smile, his infectious personality, his love of cruising, his daily trips to Home Depot, his musical obsession with everything Pink Floyd, and his insatiable appetite for Whoppers and Hershey Gold bars.
Mr. Gilmore is preceded in death by his parents, and daughters, Misty Gilmore, Jennifer Gilmore, and Jamie Gilmore. He is survived by his brother, Lynn Gilmore, sister, Carla Gilmore, wife, Paulette, two daughters, Sabrina Gilmore, Cindy Barnes and husband Adam, bonus daughter Shasta Jurovic, son-in-law Garrick Glascock, granddaughter Mikala Glascock, as well as many nieces, nephews, and bonus grandchildren. He was a member of First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Galveston, Texas.
Funeral services will be held on Saturday, January 15, 2022, at 2:00 p.m. in Beaumont, Texas under the direction of Forest Lawn Funeral Home & Memorial Park, 4955 Pine Street, Beaumont, Texas, 77703. In lieu of flowers, please make your donation to the Jamie’s Hope Foundation (www.jamieshope.org), The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration (www.theaftd.org) or the charity of your choice. A celebration of life will be held later this year.
The family would like to especially thank the memory care staff at The Oasis of Golfcrest for making his final years very comfortable, enjoyable, and loving. He was spoiled by so many. He still had an eye for a pretty woman and on occasion, had his hand slapped. Thanks also to the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center ER staff and the staff in sections 3C/3D for taking such good care of him when in the hospital over the years. Harbor Hospice is much appreciated, as well, for making him comfortable and at peace.
Please be Covid safe.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.forestlawnmpfh.com for the Gilmore family.
