Obituary of Robert Dale Gillie

February 18, 1938 - December 20, 2017

Robert Dale Gillie. Age 79 of Brownstown

Beloved husband of Margaret Speedie Gillie. Loving father of Mary Porter, Matthew (SueEllen) Gillie, and Erin (Caleb) Udall. Dearest grandfather of Eli Porter, Nathan Porter, James Gillie, Katelyn Gillie, Cecelia Udall, Edward Udall, Victoria Udall, William Udall, Ruth Udall and Julianna Udall.

FAMILY TRIBUTE

Robert (Bob) was born February 18, 1938 in Jackson Michigan. He was the second child of Harold
and Cecelia (Caton) Gillie, preceded in birth by his brother Donald, and followed by brother
Richard. They moved to Camden Michigan when he was starting seventh grade. He joined the Navy
when he was in his senior year of high school and sailed on the USS Salem, flagship of the Sixth fleet.
It was home ported in the Mediterranean in Villefranche-sur- Mer, France in 1956.
After leaving the Navy, he married Shirley Ann Dillon and had a daughter Susan. When the
marriage failed, Bob worked for Consumer Power in Jackson where he started working in the new
computer field, eventually working for Bechtel Power Corporation in Ann Arbor. There, he met and
married Margaret (Speedie) Gillie. They transferred with Bechtel to San Francisco in 1975 where
their first daughter Mary Elizabeth was born in 1979. Two years later, they moved back to Ann
Arbor and had two more children, Matthew David and Erin. In 1984, they transferred to
Gaithersburg Maryland.
They raised their family in Gaithersburg and enjoyed family life; camping, attending sporting
events, concerts, and plays. He loved, supported, and nurtured each of his children. There he began
his journey of becoming the Gillie family historian. He retired from Bechtel after 32 years. In
retirement, family history became his passion. He loved the annual Gillie family reunion and always
encouraged the family to update their family information and give pictures to share. He was proud
of the Gillie name and the family he was a part of, always sharing the new stories he had learned
and people he had found.
With the advent of Familysearch.org and the ending of the annual reunions, after over 80
consecutive years, he spent most of 2016 uploading all the Gillie family records to Family Search for
all the Gillie posterity to see and enjoy.