Clifford Brian Gillman

Clifford Brian Gillman, 81, of Williamsburg, died on Wednesday, November 23, 2022 after an extended illness. Born in Montreal, Canada, on January 30, 1941, Cliff was the beloved son of the late Hyman and Fanny (Izenberg) Gillman.

Having grown tired of the cold Canadian winters, Cliff’s father decided to move the family to the warmer climate of Southern California so Cliff, his parents and his younger sister Greta emigrated to Los Angeles in 1952. A year later, his parents decided to relocate the family once more and purchased a house in Beverly Hills because of its excellent K-12 school district. After living in the United States for five years, Cliff elected to become a Naturalized Citizen at age 16. In 1958 he graduated in the top of his class at Beverly Hills High School and was awarded a National Merit® Scholarship to attend college. Cliff had applied to – and was accepted at – Harvard, Princeton, Stanford and Yale. Although his Scholarship offset the entire cost of tuition as well as room and board, books and fees at each of these universities, he was unable to attend his first choice, which was Harvard, because his parents could not afford the additional funds to provide him with a winter wardrobe plus plane fare to and from the East Coast. Instead, Cliff stayed in sunny California and attended Stanford, graduating in 1962 with a degree in Experimental Psychology. After receiving a Master of Arts in Experimental Psychology from California State College (now University) Los Angeles in 1964, he attended Indiana University and graduated with a PhD in Experimental Psychology in 1968.

During the initial 30 years of his working career, Cliff held a variety of positions in academia. In 1968, he accepted an Assistant Professorship in the Psychology department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he taught Psychological Statistics and Mathematical Psychology, and established a minicomputer-based laboratory. In 1973 he moved to the Waisman Center on Mental Retardation as an Associate Scientist to develop a hierarchical network of computer-based laboratories. He was promoted to Senior Scientist and remained as a principal investigator at the Waisman Center until 1989. Due to his success in laboratory computer development, Cliff served as a consultant to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and served on UW-Madison computer committees from 1973 to 1983. In 1983, he was asked to help introduce microcomputers into the campus educational process. He wrote a grant proposal to IBM to provide 1,000 microcomputers for use in instruction. When the grant was funded, he accepted the additional position of Associate Director of the Madison Computer Center in charge of campus microcomputing and instructional computing. In 1989, Cliff accepted the position of Director of Academic Computing Support at the University of Delaware in Newark, DE. Three years later, he accepted the position of Director of Academic Computing at Montclair State University in Montclair, NJ, where he was responsible for providing every faculty member with a microcomputer, establishing microcomputer laboratories and providing the support needed to make them successful. Cliff remained at Montclair State until 1997, at which time he chose to change careers entirely by becoming an H&R Block tax advisor. Although he enjoyed tax preparation, two years later he decided to accept the position of Chief Information Officer at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA, where he was responsible for networking the campus, connecting all buildings and offices via high-speed fiber and providing a modern telephone system. Upon the completion of this task, he decided he was done with academic technology and returned to the more enjoyable challenge of tax preparation for the following 18 years.

After months of extensive studying, Cliff passed all of the tests to become an IRS Enrolled Agent and a Master Tax Advisor for H&R Block. He then completed the National Association of Enrolled Agents’ National Tax Practice Institute and became an NTPI fellow. He prepared tax returns annually for approximately 400 clients in Center City Philadelphia. Some of his tax clients lived year-round in Europe and the Far East, and many were foreign students attending Philadelphia’s colleges and universities. His reputation as an ethical tax professional was such that he often gained clients solely by word of mouth. During the annual January-April tax season, Cliff’s appointment book was always full and he usually ended up working through his lunch hour. In the “off season,” he represented any Philadelphia Block client who was being audited by the IRS, and successfully completed each of these stress-filled audits to the satisfaction of both the client and the IRS. Finally, after almost a half century of working outside of the home, Cliff decided he had had enough and retired in April 2017 so he could pursue a more leisurely lifestyle.

Cliff met Joan M. Friedlander while they were both attending Indiana University. They were married in June 1967. The following year, they moved to Madison, WI and started a family. Their daughter Gail was born first and their son Josh a few years later. Cliff and Joan were divorced in 1986.

Five years later, Cliff met Constance Marie Willett at a computer conference in Miami Beach, FL. They were married in May 1994, and he spent the next few years helping to raise her two children, Elizabeth and John, in Verona, NJ. Cliff and Connie moved to Marlton, NJ in 1999, which made his work commute to Philadelphia much easier and quicker. After living in Marlton for almost two decades, Connie finally persuaded Cliff that she was serious about her desire to live in a slightly less snowy climate. In late 2018, they relocated to Ford’s Colony at Williamsburg and began enjoying retirement life with Gracie, their beloved Ragdoll cat.

During the last five years of his life, Cliff frequently remarked that he was content. He finally had the time to actively pursue a childhood fascination with his extensive collection of First Day Covers and postage stamps. He also enjoyed reading books, both fiction and non-fiction, newspapers and magazines, especially The Economist and The New Yorker, and watching televised soccer and football games. Although he often could be very stubborn, Cliff was a good man with a kind heart and he will be deeply missed.

In addition to his loving wife Connie, he is survived by his much loved children, Gail (Gillman) Shepler and her husband, Kent Shepler, of Middleton, WI; Joshua Michael Gillman and his wife, Rebecca Wasieleski, of Madison, WI; M. Elizabeth Humphries and her husband, Jeffrey J. Graham, PhD, USAF LtCol, of Herndon, VA; and John Stevens Humphries and his wife, Alexandra Cooper, of Dillon, CO; his cherished grandchildren, Owen Charles Shepler and Ryan James Shepler of Middleton, WI; his dear sister Greta Joanne (Gillman) Bhoopat and her husband, Vichai (Vic) Bhoopat of Westminster, CA; as well as his many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

His Funeral will be a simple graveside service to be held on Friday, December 2, 2022 beginning at 1 p.m. at Williamsburg Memorial Park, 130 King William Drive, Williamsburg, VA 23188. In lieu of flowers, his family asks that donations be made in Cliff’s memory to either Temple Beth El of Williamsburg, 600 Jamestown Road, Williamsburg, VA 23185; Edgeworth Park at New Town Assisted Living, 5501 Discovery Park Boulevard, Williamsburg, VA 23188; or Traditions Health Hospice, 1064 Loftis Boulevard, Newport News, VA 23606. For more details and to leave his family condolence messages, please visit: www.nelsenwilliamburg.com.