Harry Gillman

Husband of the late Joy (Pettys) Gillman of Milton,who died in 2003. Loving father of Pamela & her husband Terry McDermott of Hingham and Gregory Gillman of Harwichport. Devoted grandfather of Molly and Elle McDermott of Hingham. Brother of Mildred Hershiser of Vero Beach, Florida. Harry and his wife Joy moved to Fuller Village in Milton in 2000. At the 35th Anniversary celebration in 2002, Harry was named an Ambassador for Fuller Village and Milton Residents for the Elderly, “for his unselfish work and commitment for making Fuller Village more than just a place to live”. He was Vice Chairman of the Residents’ Council, and he delivered the newspapers, started the Bingo games, played poker, and ran the Super Bowl and World Series lotteries. Harry and Joy Gillman moved to Brewster on Cape Cod in 1998 to be closer to their family. He worked part-time at Puritan Clothing stores in both Orleans and Chatham, before moving to Milton. He enjoyed a chance to laugh, to sing, and to become the “life of every party”. He grabbed the microphone at every family wedding, to sing “Swanee River” or “Bye Bye Blackbird”, in addition to other Al Jolson tunes. He was an avid sports enthusiast – he played semi-pro football after college, and for his alma mater, Syracuse University. He knew the players, the scores of every game every night, and the statistics right off the top of his head….no matter what else was happening, you could always get Harry to talk about sports. After retiring from an executive position with Cannon Mills in New York, he moved to Hilton Head, South Carolina and worked for WLOW Radio Station. In that role, he became the station’s sports announcer for the annual Family Circle Tennis Tournaments that take place there every spring. And he loved the fact that his granddaughters both played sports – he loved to watch Molly play tennis, and told Elle to bounce the basketball off the glass, not the hoop. Birthdate: 10/23/1927 Born: Buffalo, New York Donations, in lieu of flowers, to the Alzheimers Association of Massachusetts, 311 Arsenal Street, Watertown, MA 02472. A Memorial Service is planned for the Spring.