Bob was born on August 27, 1931 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, the only child of Charles Henry Gillis and Marion Gladys Coombs Gillis. Due to his father’s profession, the family moved around the country, living in NY, IN, CA, and NJ. He graduated from White Plains (NY) High School in 1949. He received a Bachelor of Science in 1960 and his Master of Science in 1970 from Newark College of Engineering.
After high school, he attended Norwich University in Vermont, an affiliation he maintained throughout his life. He participated in the ROTC program and in 1953 was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the US Army. In 1955 he was promoted 1st Lieutenant. He spent two years with the US Army in Germany, serving as a Tank Unit Commander until his honorable discharge. He was later honorably discharged from the US Army Reserves in 1961.
Bob worked in New Jersey for Johns Manville and Bell Telephone Labs in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He took a position at Ingersoll-Rand from 1963 to 1968, receiving patents for new machinery he invented or co-invented. He went to work for IBM in 1968, taking a job transfer to Austin, Texas in 1972. He retired from IBM in 1987.
Bob is predeceased by his first wife, Alba Rose (Pirozzi), his second wife, Annabelle (Speckels) Gillis, and his stepson Gregory who passed away earlier this year. He is survived by his two daughters, Laura (Mark) Johns, and Alexandra Gillis; two stepsons, Kenneth (Sharon) Bushn and Robert (Eliza) Bushn; seven grandchildren (Kyle, Clinton, Kristen, Rachael, Camille, Keith, and Robbie) and several great-grandchildren.
A graveside service will be held at St. Peter's Church of Coupland Cemetery in Coupland, Texas at 10:00 A.M. on Saturday, October 5, 2019.
To leave condolence for the family please visit www.cookwaldenfuneralhome.com
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