George Herbert Gillyatt

GEORGE HERBERT GILLYATT
3/23/1924 - 7/5/2010

George Herbert Gillyatt, age 86, of O’Brien, died Monday, July 5, 2010 at Royale Gardens Health & Rehabilitation Center.
A memorial service will be at 10:00 a.m., Sunday, July 18, 2010 at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Cave Junction. Hull & Hull Funeral Directors are in charge of arrangements.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation to your favorite charity.
George Gillyatt was born in Long Beach, California, March 23, 1924. His father was a Chief Petty Officer in the United States Navy and had served in World War I. His mother was a teacher who had taught Indian students in Alaska. When George was 8 years old, the family moved to Arcata, California. His parents built their future retirement home on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, but the approach of WWII and his father's recall into the United States Navy caused the family to return to Long Beach, where George attended Middle School and High School. He was active in the ROTC in High School.
In 1941 he enlisted in the US Navy and served as an Aviation Electrician's Mate on the second USS Yorktown aircraft carrier in the South Pacific during WWII. He was Honorably Discharged.
In August of 1950 he married Mary (Mollie) Virginia Lundberg in Long Beach, California. Over a period of nine years, they had three children: Joann, Steven, and Ruth.
George worked for the Los Angeles County Mechanical Department as a Journeyman Electrician, and he was an active member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). When George worked for Los Angeles County, the young Gillyatt family lived in Gardena and Torrance, California.
During those years, George was involved in Church activities, played on a bowling league, belonged to the Masonic Order, and was a Cub Master for Boy Scouts. He was honored by the Red Cross as a member of its 3 Gallon Club for blood donations. He was a skilled woodworker and also enjoyed camping with the family.
George retired from LA County at age 52. At his Retirement Party, his boss announced that “George had done his work with integrity.”
The family purchased property in O'Brien, Oregon in 1975, and lived there for 11 years after his retirement.
During that period, George worked at Snappy Electric and drove a school bus in the Illinois Valley. George was active in the Church, Square Dancing, being an Amway Distributor, and maintaining the O’Brien property.
George and Mollie moved to Orangevale, CA in 1988, where George worked part-time at a local ACE Hardware Store for 15 years. They returned to O’Brien in October 2004 to be near their children and grandchildren.
George enjoyed working in the woods in O’Brien, watching wildlife and reading.
Survivors include his wife, Mary (Mollie) Gillyatt of O’Brien, Oregon; three children, Joann Gillyatt, Steven Gillyatt and Ruth Gillyatt McBride, all of O’Brien, Oregon; two grandchildren, Orin McBride of Portland, Oregon and Kira McBride of O’Brien, Oregon.
He was preceded in death by his sister, Helen Frances Hurd of Mukilteo Washington and his parents, Frances Margaret Williver and George Herbert Gillyatt, Sr.