Dustie Gilman passed away peacefully on May 12, 2020. Born July 20, 1938 in San Francisco and christened Virginia Diana, Dustie was the third child of George and Vivian Mann, joining an adoring brother (George) Richard and a sister (Vivian Joye) Pidge. Dustie continued to live with her mother and siblings in St. Francis Wood after her parents divorced during World War II. She and her mother, now Vivian Davies, moved to the Peninsula in 1951. She attended Castilleja School in Palo Alto except for a year abroad at Brillantmont International School in Lausanne, Switzerland, where she became fluent in French. It was during her high school years that she decided to adopt the name Dustie instead of Diana Mann. Dustie travelled widely with her mother and other family members, visiting many continents and experiencing cultures throughout the world. She also briefly explored her interest in the theatre at the Pasadena Play House in Los Angeles.
She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in New York with a degree in Mathematics and Art and then made New York her permanent home. There she married Gordon Massas, had two sons, Todd and Tyler, and pursued her interest in art and oil painting. Eventually, the couple decided to move west where they opened Carrie’s Flower Shop in La Jolla Shores, California. When the couple split up, Dustie and the boys moved to Del Mar in 1976, where she became active in writing groups and arts and crafts and began running marathons in addition to nurturing Todd and Tyler. In the late seventies Dustie married Spaid Gilman and their daughter Cassie was welcomed to the family. When Spaid and Dustie divorced in the late eighties, Dustie and the children remained in the unique home they had created in Del Mar.
From 1990, and up until his death in 2014, Dustie and Bill Livesay shared their lives, their interests, their home, their deep love, the cooking, and their sense of fun and humor with both of their extended families. She will be remembered as an extraordinary person by her sons Todd and Tyler Massas, by her daughters-in-law Laurie and Marjori, by her daughter Cassie Winterowd and son-in-law Trevor, and by her grandchildren, Brianna and Bronson Massas and Jake Winterowd, as well as members of Bill’s family, Glen Livesay and his daughter Suli, Paul Livesay and his children Emily and Owen, Kay Livesay and her daughter Fiona. Dustie’s memory will be cherished by her many friends and family members.
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