Gary Brian Gillen

Gary Brian Gillen was born January 19th, 1954, in Dinuba, California. He was born in the Alta District Hospital to Robert “Bob” and Ramona Gillen. He lived at his parents’ business, the El Monte Motel, which was also their home, until marrying his wife in 1976.

Gary enjoyed being busy from a young age. He went home to home to sell circus tickets in the summer. He was a paper boy for the Visalia Times Delta, Alta Advocate, and Dinuba Sentinel. He loved riding his bike for the deliveries but hated having to collect overdue newspaper payments! He would tell stories of the women coming to their doors wearing curlers in their hair. He actually asked one woman “how many stations can you get?” while standing at her door.

When the El Monte Motel had a swimming pool, he was able to convince his dad to open it to the public so he could make money. He got his lifeguard certification and it would come in handy as he did save numerous kids from drowning! He sold candy to the kids for additional income. He had MANY stories about events at the pool. He could point out adults that had come to the pool when they were kids and tell stories about them… like the one that broke the swimming pool slide… or the girl that stole a candy bar and “hid” it in her bikini bottoms! He was able to make enough money from his pool business to pay for his own school clothes and extracurricular activities.

Gary attended Dinuba Schools and graduated with the class of 1972. He attended Reedley Jr. College where he majored in physical education but would later transfer to College of the Sequoias where he studied carpentry.

He was interested and active in sports. In high school, he played the centerfield position in baseball and played football in the quarterback position. There were hopes of going on to play in college, but he was told to stop all sports after having one too-many concussions. He did go on to bowl in league play and won several tournaments.

Towards the end of high school, Gary worked for Zellerbach Paper Company, in Dinuba, as a Machine Operator and Maintenance Worker. Over the years he would advance to Quality Control Manager and stay with the company when it changed hands to Mead Paper, James River Company, and Dinuba Pad. When they closed, he was hired by PPS Packaging Company in Fowler to work as their Production Manager, which required 24/7 on-call status. Gary retired from PPS in December of 2015.

Gary was a family man. His family was his priority. He married his lifelong friend, Katherine Ann Woods, in 1976. They were blessed with two children, Giselle Annette and Grant Brian. He was involved in their school activities, the lives of their close friends, and one of their biggest cheerleaders. He was involved in church activities – a member of the church of Christ since his teens.

Gary was an avid Dodgers fan! He could recite events in games that were played decades ago. During a hospitalization in October, he recalled the following about Don Drysdale’s scoreless inning streak – “I was in the hospital, a week before graduation day, and listened to it on my little transistor radio on my pillow so I could hear it. Around June of 1968. I think my mom or dad smuggled, uh, brought my radio to me! The streak was 58 and 2/3 innings, I think. I watched when Orel Hershiser broke his record of 59 complete innings!”

He loved going to games at the stadium or just watching the TV and proudly converted his mother-in-law, Frankie, from the Giants over to the Dodgers. The day before he passed on, he told her to “remember…you’re a Dodger fan!” He even has a set of seats from the original L.A. stadium in his backyard. He could manage the team from his recliner with the best of them. He was “Dodger Blue” through and through!

He enjoyed gardening and caring for his yard. For years, he literally had a yard that looked like a putting green. Several people that walked by took off their shoes and socks to walk on it! Giselle recalled coming home from school one day and found Gary on his hands and knees, digging out weeds with a butter knife! He certainly had a green thumb!

His mother-in-law called him her ‘buddy’, but since his passing we’re finding out there were many more people that thought of him as THEIR buddy... older women, kids, other men. He was a friend to all.

Gary’s main hobby was making stained glass art and windows. His work was meticulous! He enjoyed working with Kathy to create beautiful art pieces for family and friends… several that are here today own pieces of his mastery.

Gary is survived by his wife, Katherine, of 49 ½ years; his daughter and son-in-law, Giselle and CJ Jones of Dinuba; his son and daughter-in-law, Grant and Alexandria (Angangan) Gillen of Leland, North Carolina; his one grandchild, Kendall Jones of Dinuba; his sister and brother-in-law, Lisa and Joe Richards of Oceano; his brother-in-law and wife, Stanley II and Rose Woods of Fresno; his mother-in-law, Frankie Woods of Dinuba; three nephews, one niece, four great-nieces, one great-nephew, and lifelong friends who were like second parents – Udale and Ginny Ware of Dinuba. He was preceded in death by his parents, Bob and Ramona Gillen, his brother Bruce Gillen, and his father-in-law, Stanley Woods.