Memorial Tribute:
Richard Allan Gilmore
“A Lifetime of Praise”
Richard was born 91 years ago on April 3,1931 in Rockford, Illinois. He was the son of the late Thomas and Ruth (Perry) Gilmore, Sr. He is survived by his wife Emilia (Milly) whom he married April 17, 1953, his beloved daughter Brigitte (Thomas) Schembari, Tulsa, OK., his brother Tom (Sharon) Gilmore, Jr. of Winterville, NC., his sister Lois (Lionel) Reynolds of Carmel, CA., his brother Perry (Doris) Gilmore of Largo, FL., and his late brother Edmond Gilmore, of Marshfield, WIS., along with many nieces and nephews.
Richard was baptized as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses 80 years ago at 11 years of age, on September 20,1942 in Madison, Wisconsin dedicating his life to Jehovah. His favorite scripture was Psalm 146:2 “I will praise Jehovah all my life, I will sing praises to my God as long as I live.”
He attended Township High School in DeKalb, Illinois. Then in 1949 at the age of 18, he entered the full-time regular pioneer service. Leaving his home in DeKalb, he along with two other pioneer brothers moved to Dixon, Illinois to serve in a territory designated as “where the need was great” for full time preachers. Within a year in 1950, Richard as well as the other two brothers were invited to serve at the world headquarters of The Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of Jehovah’s Witnesses in New York, all three accepted. He was 19 years old eager, and willing. He fortunately was able to share room #356 with his older brother Edmond (Ed) who had already been serving there for two years.
His first assignment at Bethel was in the press room, printing on the big German made ‘Man’ printing press Number 1. Later he was transferred to the bindery department to work with the glue machine, gluing the 32-page signatures together after which the hard covers were then added.
Richard often said about Bethel: “These were the best years of my life.” He fondly remembered how close-knit the very small Bethel family was at that time, recalling when they had Bethel softball games that Br. Knorr of the Governing Body would be the pitcher for both teams. On one occasion, a sister came up to bat, Br. Knorr sarcastically told the outfield to come in closer because she was not a good batter. He pitched to her; she slammed a direct hit at his chest which knocked him down. After getting up he said, “that’s what I get for teasing a sister.”
At the 1950 International Assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses in New York City, Richard met Milly Kuzyk, a pioneer sister from Winnipeg Canada who he would eventually marry. Milly and her pioneer partner Stella in 1946 went to Quebec, Canada to assist in the preaching campaign denouncing the Quebec government for its persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses. She helped distribute the powerful tract entitled Quebec’s Burning Hate for God and Christ and Freedom Is the Shame of All Canada. Milly’s sister Sally and her husband Ray served as special pioneers in the French province of Quebec, her sister Sylvia, and her husband Jack as special pioneers in Toronto as well as a nephew, Dennis who served at Toronto Bethel and several siblings who served as regular pioneers. Milly came from a very spiritual family of which she was one of sixteen brothers and sisters whose parents had arrived from Ukraine at the turn of the 20th century.
In October 1952, Richard left Bethel to marry Milly on April 17,1953. The very day he left Bethel service, his younger brother Tom arrived to serve there and was assigned the same Gilmore room #356 that Richard was vacating. Ed shared his room with Tom now, who apparently couldn’t get away from his brothers. After serving fifteen years at Bethel, Ed left to marry a pioneer sister named Fran, both were accepted as special pioneers being assigned to preach in southern Illinois.
That October in 1952, Richard’s brother Tom on his way to Bethel was driving with his sister Lois who Br. Knorr had personally invited to stay at Bethel for two weeks, since she now had three brothers serving there. When they arrived, Richard took Tom and Lois on a tour of Bethel. While on tour, Richard introduced Lois to a Bethelite, Lionel Reynolds. Lionel at first thought Lois was Richard’s fiancé from Canada, when he told Lionel she was his sister he said, “Well then I would like to meet her… don’t keep her to yourself.” Lois and Lionel started dating and she soon moved to New Brunswick, New Jersey near Bethel continuing her pioneer service. Lionel eventually left Bethel to marry Lois, they pioneered together, both were accepted to attend the 34th class of Gilead in 1960. After graduation they were assigned to move to Lima Peru, South America where they served as foreign missionaries.
After Richard left Bethel to marry Milly, Ed was asked to move to Bethel Farm in upper state New York. With his sister over in New Jersey with Lionel, Tom felt a bit alone in Room #356. However, he was soon assigned to the trucking department, he would drive to the farm where Ed would help his brother unload the truck. He also had the opportunity to go to New Jersey where he was able to visit Lois and Lionel. Tom tells how he would transport passengers the distance from Brooklyn to and from the Farm. At times it would include Governing Body members, Gilead Instructors, District and Circuit Overseers, he said getting to know so many wonderful brothers personally, was a privilege he cherished. Tom later married a pioneer sister named Sharon Larson who would serve with him in Bethel. Tom was in Bethel 34 years until 1986, when they were reassigned to North Carolina where they serve as special pioneers.
What started the Gilmore family devotion to Jehovah? It began in the early 1930’s when they were living on their farm in DeKalb, Illinois. A traveling missionary (then called a Colporteur) named Brother Holmes from England, witnessed to their father Tom Gilmore, Sr. who was a very religious Irish Protestant. Brother Holmes answered Tom’s (Sr.) questions and he soon began attending meetings. Tom never partook of the emblems but knew it was the truth. When the understanding of the “Great Crowd” in 1935 was announced at the Washington D.C. convention, the President of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, J.F. Rutherford asked: “Will all those who have the hope of living forever on the earth please stand.” Over half of the audience stood. Tom was now happy to learn that his future prospect was to live on earth for eternity as one of the other sheep.
The five Gilmore children recall their father taking them to the 1941 St. Louis Convention where Br. Rutherford released the book “Children.” The Gilmore children and 15,000 other children present, each received their own copy. That same year a photo of the four boys was published in the 1941 Consolation Magazine (now Awake) where they were shown displaying their service literature bags on their farm preparing to go in the ministry. Sadly, just two years later in 1943 their mother Ruth passed away due to cancer. Also, tragically the farm was hit by lightning which burned down the barn killing most of their livestock. Richard often shared memories of the love he had for the farm. After the fire, the family moved into the town of DeKalb where Richard’s father would eventually serve as the Congregation Servant (Overseer) for well over twenty years raising the children in the faith, establishing in them a strong spiritual foundation.
During Richard’s full-time pioneer service which included his Bethel service, the military classified him as 4-D a “Ministers Classification.” But with the Korean War going on, the local draft board reclassified him as 1-A, available for military service. Richard appealed this through the Local Draft Board showing that he was in the full-time ministry even providing a personally signed document from President Nathan Knorr of the Watchtower Society. When that failed, he took it to the Appeals Board which also upheld this 1-A military status. He next appealed it to Washington, D.C. to the Presidential Appeals Board. But as he tells it, “To my chagrin again no help was granted, they sent me notice of my scheduled military induction to the U.S. Army at the Chicago Armory building where I was to be sworn in by taking an oath. That day they had all the inductees stand in a line; on command we were all instructed to step forward to take the oath. As you can guess, I was the only one that did not step forward or take the oath. Immediately a man in a military uniform came over and told me to go home. He said the F.B.I would pick me up to take me to prison, however they never came. I believe they decided to wait several months until I was over the age limit of 26, which then disqualified me for the military. However, not knowing this, Milly was worried because she was pregnant and terribly concerned about what she would do if I went to prison. Jehovah stepped in and answered our many prayers by keeping me around & thus we raised our little girl to be spiritually strong and to endure in the truth for a lifetime.”
Of the 80 years Richard served Jehovah, nearly 70 of these were in Elgin, Illinois as a Congregation Servant, City Overseer and as an Elder. He was also an editor and contributor for the “Elgin Daily Newspaper” writing a column called the “Sermonette for Today…” he quoted scriptures from the Bible and then accurately explained their meaning for its many readers.
He was selected in 1981 to be one of the instructors along with Br. Hewitt Collar teaching the Kingdom Ministry School for Elders. One brother, Allen Leptich from the Chicago Lakeview Congregation, who attended the class shared this memory, “I along with two other brothers were assigned a brief skit that never got past even the first couple of lines because we started laughing & could not regain our composure. Dick (Richard) our instructor, was not fazed at all and basically covered for our inane behavior like nothing happened out of the ordinary.” Adding, “I enjoyed his easy manner as a teacher, along with his unlimited illustrations. As Dick sleeps waiting to awaken in paradise, we remember he was a real example for us all.”
Richard also served as an instructor for the Pioneer School a privilege he deeply cherished. He gave many public talks over the years, including District and Circuit Assembly parts and many still comment on how his talks were always filled with many wonderful illustrations.
In an Interview, Richard once stated: “We had the privilege to share our home over the years with many Circuit Overseers, District Overseers as well as Special Representatives from the Branch.” Adding, “When we dedicate ourselves to Jehovah, we solemnly promise to make the doing of his will the most important thing in our life. Promises are to be kept, not broken. If I were a young man again, I would be determined more than ever to prove Satan the liar that he is. A scripture I always keep in my mind and heart is Psalm 146:2 “I will praise Jehovah all my life. I will sing praises to my God as long as I live.”
Secularly, Richard was well known as a master brick mason even establishing his own company R. Gilmore Masonry, building many luxury homes in Illinois. He also willingly volunteered his time and masonry skills by working and overseeing the masonry crews in the building of numerous Kingdom Halls across six different states as well as the construction of large Assembly Halls for Jehovah’s Witnesses. He always possessed a strong work ethic throughout his life in both his religious and secular obligations.
On the day Richard passed away the hospice nurse told us she saw something she had never seen before. She said, “I looked over and saw a smile appear on Richard’s face and then he passed away.” We cannot help but think that he may have felt like the Apostle Paul who at the end of his lifetime of praise said: “I have fought the fine fight, I have run the race to the finish, I have observed the faith.” … 2 Timothy 4:7
Richard shared this thought, that WE now call, “His Last Will and Testament” …. “May Jehovah bless you and safeguard you. May Jehovah make his face shine upon you, May Jehovah lift up his face toward you and grant you peace.” ….. Numbers 6:24-26
Hopefully, may we alongside Richard hear Jehovah say…
“Well done, good and faithful slave!”