Barbara Claytor Gilstad

Dr. Barbara Claytor Gilstad was born in Muskegon, Michigan, on Sunday, 9 April 1939, to Loyal Mae (Roeske) Claytor and Merlyn Paul Claytor, the third of five children. Once she turned eighteen, she set forth from East Troy, Wisconsin, driving to Highland Falls, New York (in second gear). She worked in the local grocery store and then in the Thayer Hotel in West Point, New York, until her fiancé, cadet Dennis Gilstad, graduated.. They were married on Thursday, 7 June 1962, at the Most Holy Trinity Catholic Chapel at West Point. Barbara and Dennis then moved to College Station, Texas, for graduate school at Texas A&M, where their daughter, Elizabeth was born in December 1963. When Elizabeth was five months old, the family drove cross-country to San Bernardino, California (in a black Plymouth sedan with no A/C). John was born in California in July 1965. After the family moved to West Lafayette, Indiana, Barbara went back to college and began taking classes at Purdue University. She continued her studies when the family moved to the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and completed her bachelor’s degree in Education after the family settled in San Antonio, Texas. Barbara went on to complete her Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Education from the University of Texas at San Antonio, followed by her Ph.D., from the University of Texas at Austin. During this time, she taught English as a Second Language in the San Antonio Independent School District. Upon her retirement from teaching, she shifted her focus to artistic endeavors, primarily quilt design. Barbara taught quilting and quilt design for many years and was active in the Greater San Antonio Quilt Guild. One of her most meaningful projects was a quilt collaboration with Marty Kishiro of Osaka, Japan, on a collection titled “Reflections on 9/11” which is now part of the permanent collection of the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin. Luckily for us, she passed on her determination, intelligence and creative spirit to subsequent generations.

Barbara was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, her eldest brother, Robert A. Claytor, and her sister Catherine R. M. Claytor. She is survived by her children, CAPT Elizabeth A. McGuigan, MC, USN (ret), CAPT John R.-H. Gilstad, MC, USN (ret) (Colleen), her grandchildren Dennis W. Gilstad, Shannon L. McGuigan (Alex Boota), Kieran C. McGuigan (Michelle Sames), Mary C. Gilstad (Elad Zelingher), Capt. Anlon P. McGuigan, USMC (Rebecca Niles), great-grandchildren Violet E. Boota, Zoe Q. Boota, brothers David L. Claytor (Jean Schneider), Thomas Claytor and nieces Sarah Hortsch and Amelia Becker.

A family service will be held at Arlington National Cemetery.