Ben Tom Gill, Jr.

Ben Tom Gill, Jr. entered into the eternal rest and peace of our Lord on September 5, 2010, after a courageous battle with Parkinson’s disease. Ben was born on January 26, 1935, in Ardmore, Oklahoma. He was preceded in death by his son, Roger Thomas Gill. He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Nellie Nadine Gill, their love enduring and growing through the years. Daughter, Cathy N. Scott, resides in San Antonio, Texas. Grandson, Jeff Thompson and granddaughter, Lisa Soles live in San Antonio. Great-granddaughters, Angel Marie Thompson and Evren Elise Thompson have been such delights to him. His mother, Helen Gill, preceded him in death. Diane Collins, daughter, lives in Utah. Ben’s earliest work was selling newspapers to help support his brothers and sisters. Ben worked his way through college, graduating from Oklahoma State University and later earning a Master’s degree at Southwestern Oklahoma State University. He taught at Wilson High School in Wilson, Oklahoma before entering the U. S. Air Force in 1959, serving as system analyst and programmer at the Pentagon and various bases and teaching math at the Air Force Academy. At Edwards Air Force Base he did programming for designing of the space shuttle. Following retirement from the Air Force in 1979, he worked for Tesoro Petroleum until final retirement. Ben was gentle, kind and his true career was being with his family. Ben and Nellie frequently had their children out in nature, camping, fishing, exploring and sometimes spending nights in the dark countryside studying stars. After their children were grown, Ben and Nellie traveled the world, drawing and painting along the way. He loved playing baseball, softball, basketball, pool, and horseshoes. He got much pleasure hunting for arrowheads with his late father-in-law, Richard Freeman. Ben enjoyed coaching Little League baseball and basketball. He was a member of First Baptist Church of Universal City, Texas. He volunteered at the Universal City Library for many years. He was fantastic at woodworking making many items for the home. He wrote beautiful, heartfelt poetry and learned to play classical acoustic guitar. Ben and Nellie enjoyed country western dancing and in competition winning second against the world champions. As his Parkinson’s disease progressed they switched to square dancing. When Ben could no longer be so physically active he began polishing beautiful rocks, carving and making jewelry. Nellie dedicated herself to the entire care of Ben until his health declined to the extent that she could not do all of it. Then Stella Morgan and Tosha Kinney, were lovingly helpful while young Tay Lee went to the point of spoiling her “brother, Mr. Gill”. The family will receive friends on Thursday, September 9, 2010 from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at Sunset Funeral Home. Funeral services will be held at 3:00 p.m. on Friday, September 10, 2010 in Sunset Funeral Home Chapel. Interment will follow in Sunset Memorial Park, with full Air Force honors. Memorial donations may be made to the American Parkinson Disease Association or the Alamo Area Parkinson’s Support Group.