Don Gillingham

In Love With Life

Don Gillingham had the luck to grow up in Greendale, a small Wisconsin village that was built as the product of Franklin Roosevelt's imagination of an ideal American community. Greendale could have informed Norman Rockwell's paintings of his American dream. Don's Greendale world was his family, neighbors trusting and helping neighbors, patriotism, belief in God, respect, kids working for a new bike, men standing to shake hands and a man's handshake being his bond, He started perfecting his work ethic at eleven harvesting vegetables on a neighboring farm. Over his lifetime he learned bartending and heavy trucking both putting him through college, building restoration which he used to build his own home in Heron, pharmacy, real estate, banking, and his last profession, insurance which allowed him to settle in Montana. On the way, Don lived in San Francisco and Los Angeles, became Vice President of Lytton Savings and Loan and went into business for himself with Future Investments, a real estate and appraisal business.

Greendale values were also loving the outdoors and attempting everything. Don started fishing and hunting early, trained Springer Spaniels for field trials with his father, took up golf, scuba, horseback riding, motorcycles, three-cushion billiards, sailing, archery, shooting, bridge and bowling, the game that brought him his wife. Don won Maggie Kehl's heart the night she stepped into league bowling as a fill-in and Don turned his wry wit on her. He cemented it by introducing her to all his sports. Maggie then introduced Don to his last sport, downhill skiing and the deal was sealed.

Don and Maggie were together for 53 years, most of those in Sanders County where they enjoyed working with the clients who used Green Mountain Insurance, their agency in Trout Creek for 24 years and getting involved with community services. Don immersed himself into the Trout Creek Fire Department, the Noxon Senior Center, helping start VFW Post #5556 in Noxon, 12 years as his District's Director at Northern Lights, on the boards of Northwest Public Power and Montana Electric Cooperative Association, refereeing Heron basketball games, chaperoning the Noxon Ski Club, and chairing the third Huckleberry Festival.

Don was born December 12, 1931. He was blessed with the genetics to continue his love affair with life to age 100 and planned to, but he died at 92 on July 19 in Sandpoint due to a complication resulting from an accident which trapped him under his pick-up for 21 hours. He was preceded by his mother Betty Gillingham Lawler, his legendary father Larry Gillingham who spent his last years in Trout Creek, his brother Terry Gillingham, and his sister Maureen (Ron Frederick) Reed. He is survived by his wife Maggie Gillingham, brothers Richard (Gail) Gillingham, Dennis Gillingham, Brian (Danielle) Gillingham, Patrick (Debi) Gillingham and sister Laurie (Steve) Weinkauf.

A memorial service will be held for Don on Saturday, October 12, at 2 p.m. in Heron's old Methodist Church. Following will be a retrospective poking fun at Don during a pot luck of sides and dessert to accompany Don's Gillingham Chili Soup.