Donald Gebauer Gill

Donald Gill, surrounded by his loving family, peacefully passed away on Wednesday, October 12, 2016, after a long and courageous battle with cancer. Don was an amazing man of quiet strength, a gentleman, a successful athlete with a life long passion for sports, and an immensely loving and giving husband, father, brother, uncle, grandfather and friend. He will be deeply missed. Don was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, the son of John W. and Margaret C. Gill. He graduated from State High School in Kalamazoo, and attended Denison University of Ohio on a football Scholarship and was a member of Beta Theta Pi Fraternity. He graduated from Western Michigan University with a Degree in Business and was quarterback for the Western Michigan Broncos football team. Don began his career with the Shakespeare Sporting Goods Company, first in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he met his wife Jen, and then in Burlingame, CA, where their first son John was born. Don then joined Transamerica, where he moved to Helena, MT. It was in Helena that Don and Jen’s second son, Joe, was born. During his tenure at Transamerica, Don and his family embarked on an adventure that included stops in Boise, ID, Hastings, MN and finally Plano, TX. In later years, he joined the Dallas Morning News, where he retired in 2000. Don married Genevieve (Jen) Dineen in Anaheim, CA, and they have been happily together for the last 54 years. After settling in Texas, they spent 35 years in Plano, where they raised their two sons, and for the last 16 years, have lived in McKinney. In addition to his wife Jen, and sons John and Joe, Don’s immediate family includes son John’s wife Robin Gill and their son Ryan of Carrolton, TX, son Joe’s wife Carolyn Gill and their children, Reilly, Rory and Rowan, of Fairfield, CT, and his brother Bob Gill and niece, Denise Gill of Florida. Don was very proud of his family. At the family’s request, burial inurnment will be private.