Grady Gilder

Grady Gilder, Jr. (born March 13, 1927 in Dallas) a long-time resident of the mid-cities, died on February 26, Saturday, in Plano after a long illness. A retired aerospace engineering practitioner and executive with Chance-Vought Corporation (later LTV Corp. and now Lockheed Martin) from 1953-1985, his life was one marked by a commitment to his family, work and multiple passions. These included reading science fact and fiction works and viewing films of all genres, critically listening to music (mainly jazz and folk--he was a member of the Dallas Jazz Music Society and the Dallas Folk Music Society, with bongos being his instrument of choice). Grady was also was an avid aviation enthusiast, often taking his children to flyover demonstrations and such events, as well as travelling up to the New Mexico mountains with family and friends, which showed his consummate love of nature.

A 1944 graduate of Adams High School of Dallas and a 1950 graduate of Texas A&M University’s BFA program in Architecture, Grady served in the US Army from June 1945 to November 1946 in the immediate post WW II period, holding a reverse post for a time afterwards. During his professional work life as an engineering manager, he also obtained a post-graduate certificate in the field from Texas Christian University in 1970.

Married to Janet Marshall Gilder in 1952, he had four children, three of whom survive him (Michelle Gilder of Dallas, Lisa Metcalf of Plano, Kurt Gilder of Bedford [died 2009] and Dr. Eric Gilder of Romania). Preceded in death by his father, Grady Gilder, Sr. and mother, Dolly Bronstine Gilder of Dallas, Grady is also survived his by his wife, brother-in law M. A. (Bud) Marshall, Jr. of Oklahoma City, and sister-in-law Sharon Castillo of Rio Vista, Texas, four grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.. An empathic, sensitive man driven by his profession to be demanding of both himself and others, he engendered high loyalty among employees and friends alike.

Always a seeker of truth and never afraid to doubt easy certainties, Grady’s thinking on matters ethereal and practical was shaped by his multi-disciplinary training in both the arts and sciences and by thinkers such as physicist Richard Feynman and cosmologist Carl Sagan, among others. Drawing from this intellectual and spiritual background, he firmly believed that the salvation of humankind was to be found in the starry firmament above and the spaces beyond them, i.e., through space and time travel. In the words of Loreena Mckennitt’s “Dante’s Prayer,” his vision of our live here and there was, “Though we share this humble path, alone/How fragile is the heart/Oh give these clay feet wings to fly/To touch the face of the stars.”

Funeral arrangements are with Ted Dickey Funeral Home of Plano, with a requiem service to be held at St. Vincent’s Cathedral in Bedford (1300 Forest Ridge Road) on Saturday, 5 March at 3 p.m., the Very Reverend Ryan S. Reed officiating. Interment service will follow. Memorial contributions made in his name to St. Vincent’s Cathedral would be welcome.

Arrangements under the direction of Jarrid Stout at Ted Dickey Funeral Home, Plano, TX.