Joseph

Gillard

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Joseph Louis Gillard, who passed away on December 20, 2022 at the age of Eighty-seven.  Joseph was born the Twenty-eighth day of July in the year 1935 the 12th child to Myrtle May (née Miller) and JE Gillard. He was a native son of Paulding Township in his precious Ohio.

Always with curious intellect and restless feet, after graduating Paulding High School Joseph, or Joe as he was usually called, accepted a scholarship to Fort Valley College in Georgia, but soon found himself in New York City where he enlisted in the United States Air Force. After receiving remarkably high scores on Aristide tests, the Air Force sent Joe to Yale University where he learned to read and write Chinese in only one year. After serving during the tail end of the Korean War in Military Intelligence, Joe headed home to Paulding and a brief stint at Defiance College. From there he transferred to UC Berkeley in California where he met his future wife Donna Maria Fenton. Together they moved to Los Angeles with their infant son Shaun Erin where they would call home for the rest of their lives.

In his time Joe was a singer, electrician, contractor, architect/designer, and in retirement became an excellent and prolific genealogist. In addition to being a trained and natural crooner, Joe played guitar and piano. Music was a centerpiece of the many parties in their home. Also, pursuing his childhood love of the race  horses at the Paulding Fairgrounds, Joe became a thoroughbred horse breeder and owner. As a race horse handicapper, he could claim winning a Pic Six ticket on three occasions.

Joe was preceded in death by his wife Donna in 2015, and is survived by his son Shaun of Los Angeles, sister Phyllis Turner of Louisville KY, and many other family members and friends.

A memorial service will be held on June 10, at Upthegrove Cemetery. "Passion penetrates, objectivity bores" – Joseph Gillard