Mary Josephine ‘Jo’ Gillis, 99, of Grosse Pointe Farms, MI, died peacefully on January 31, 2023, with her daughters and granddaughters by her side. She was born in Hay’s River on the Isle of Cape Breton in Nova Scotia, Canada, July 31, 1923, the last of nine children born to Hugh Rankin Beaton and Florence (nee MacInnis) Beaton.
Jo received her early education in a one-room schoolhouse, where her older siblings were her most demanding teachers. She attended residential high school at St. Joseph Convent in Mabou, Nova Scotia. After completing a certificate program at the provincial normal college, she returned home to teach in the same schoolhouse where she had once been a student. Her first class held 30 pupils in grades 1 through 10. She later earned her R.N. at the Halifax Infirmary, where she was elected class president and won the Gold Medal for Academic Excellence. She taught nursing arts at hospitals in Halifax and North Sydney before emigrating to the United States. She retired after a lengthy career as a registered nurse in the Grosse Pointe area.
Jo met her husband, Angus ‘Gus’ Gillis of Port Hood, Nova Scotia, at a country dance in 1939. He courted her from afar through the war and his move to Detroit. They married in 1956, 17 years after their first dance, and eventually settled in Harper Woods, MI. They enjoyed 55 happy years as husband and wife before his death in 2012. She is survived by her daughters Anne (Thomas) Furlong and Margaret (Vittorio) Bruni. She leaves three cherished grandchildren, Alexander Furlong and Josephine and Meredith Bruni. She was preceded in death by her husband, Gus, daughter Elizabeth in 2015, two infant sons, her parents, and all her siblings, John Clarence, Angus, Donald, Florence, Lawrence, Charles, Catherine Marie, Margaret “Peggy,” and foster brother, Jack Johnson.
Jo was a devoted wife and mother who successfully balanced family and career before it was common practice. She encouraged and supported her children’s education and ensured they had many opportunities to explore and develop their interests. She read extensively and knit sweaters and sewed quilts for family and friends. She found great joy and fulfillment in her Catholic faith and served for many years as a church lector and consolation minister. She and Gus were also long-time volunteers at the Missionaries of Charity Soup Kitchen and Women’s Shelter of Detroit, where Gus was chief handyman, Jo was a cleaning lady, and they both were a friendly face and helping hand to anyone who needed it. When age began to limit her activities, she joined a prayer group and offered prayers for people in need.
Jo loved people and drew energy from being around others. She was an easy and interesting conversationalist whose grace and warmth brought her many friends. Despite her advanced age, she easily transitioned from letter-writing, to email, to Facebook because each made it easier for her to connect with people. She had an uncanny gift for finding a personal connection with others: a mutual friend, a common interest, or a shared experience. Meeting her made the world a smaller and more pleasant place.
A mass of Christian burial was celebrated on February 11th at St. Paul on the Lake Catholic Church in Grosse Pointe Farms, MI. Jo will be laid to rest next to her husband and daughter on the Isle of Cape Breton in the Church of the Immaculate Conception cemetery, West Lake Ainslie, Nova Scotia, Canada.
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