Dr. Samuel Gillis

Samuel Peters Gillis, M.D., 82, passed away Monday at his home in Birmingham, Alabama, after a hard-fought battle with cancer.

Born in Knoxville, Tennessee, young Sam attended elementary school in Knoxville and later Gainesville, Florida, before moving to Blue Mountain, Mississippi in 1947 with his parents and brothers. He attended New Albany High School where he played quarterback for three years from 1950-1952. After graduating in 1953, Dr. Gillis became an outstanding student at Mississippi State University, where he and fellow students used to ride motorcycles down the wide halls of Old Main before it burned down.

Earning his bachelor’s degree in 1957, he studied medicine at Tennessee Medical School in Memphis, where he earned his M.D. He performed his residency in Kingsport, Tennessee, before joining the Mayo Clinic, where he co-authored “Unusual complication of intravenous fluid therapy,” published in 1963.

Dr. Gillis served as a medical doctor in the United States Army in South Vietnam in 1965. Following a short duty at Fort Dix, New Jersey, he moved to Birmingham, Alabama, where he set up his medical practice. He was affiliated with St. Vincent’s Birmingham.

After he retired, Dr. Gillis stayed busy with new pursuits. He donated his time and talents on numerous trips to the Baptist Medical Centre in Nalerigu, Ghana, with Doctors Without Borders, where he performed surgeries on people with cleft palates, which were common in the area, as well as other surgical life-saving procedures such as emergency C-sections.

Never one to stay still, Dr. Gillis became both an amazing ballroom dancer beginning at age 60 and a marathon runner. In December 2010, he set an Alabama state record for runners aged 75+ at the Rocket City Marathon, a record that held until last year. He exhibited an exemplary work ethic in everything he attempted and earned the respect of countless admirers. One of his favorite pastimes was attending Mississippi State football games with his brother Joe, after which they either toasted the victories or drowned their sorrows with a Margarita. He penned the quote “Run and Dance, Love and Live, Keep Smiling,” and lived it to the fullest.

Dr. Gillis was preceded in death by his parents, Malcolm Elisha Gillis, Sr. and Rose Peters Gillis of Blue Mountain and brother Malcolm Elisha Gillis, Jr. of Toney, Alabama.

Survivors include his wife Sandra Thompson Gillis, former wife Mary Sandlin Phyfer Gillis, son Benjamin Knox Gillis and son Daniel Paul Gillis and wife Amma, daughter Amy Thompson Holditch and husband Stanley, all of Birmingham; brother Joseph Murray Gillis of Adamsville, Tennessee; grandchildren Duncan Charles Holditch, Amy Kathryn Gillis, Benjamin Knox Gillis, Jr., Katherine Claye Gillis, Daniel Luke Gillis and George Peyton Gillis, all of Birmingham; nephews Robert Malcolm Gillis of Owens Cross Roads, Alabama, Peter Ludwig Johann Gillis of Eatonton, Georgia and Malcolm Elisha Gillis of Rutledge, Georgia; nieces Suzy Gillis Stephens of Hampton Cove, Alabama and Lydia Ruth Gillis of Oviedo, Florida; numerous grand-nieces and -nephews, loving friends and his two well-loved Shih Tzu’s, Josephine Baker and Louis Armstrong.

A memorial service will be held this Saturday at 3 p.m. at Ridout’s Valley Chapel at 1800 Oxmoor Road, Homewood, Alabama.