Donald W. Jillson

I only had the privalage of knowing Grampa for a short time, but i did get to spend a few Christmas's with him. The Christmas tree was always huge and sparkling, and it always had envelopes with IOU's on it! Presents would spread from under the tree through the whole living room, and Granpa was always in the middle, just as excited as a kid! My favorite memory is when i was thirteen and i was staying with Gram,Grampa, Shannon and Jim. I had went to one of my friends house for a while and when...

Some of my earliest memories of my grandfather are when me and my brother would spend the night at his house. We would get to stay up real late and watch tv till we fell asleep on the living room floor. In the morning we would get up before gram and grampa would cook us pancakes, he would make us letters (A-Z) Us kids would always make pigs out of ourselves trying to get to the furthest letter. I also remember we would go out and tend to the gardens. Grampa would always wear one of those...

"Donny" Jilson was a part of my childhood in North Adams. We lived on the corner next to Don, Phyllis and kids. I always remember my Dad "Jesse" and Mom "Isabelle" and Donny & Phyllis and the great family get togethers on the porch at our place in the summer evenings. Donny & Dad would always have a gardening competition to see who could grow the best cucumbers, sweet corn, etc. I remember "Champ" the nightmare pony that neither Dad or Donny could tame when it was time to put "shoes" on him....

Donnie was a wonderful guy. He & my Dad made homemade rootbeer & shoed the horses together. He was a kind, gentle spirit, a good father and the best neighbor ever.

i only meant grandpa a few times but he seemed like a very nice man. very funny.

My father was the greatest dad. I remember growing up and going out to the shed collecting the eggs from the chickens, bringing them in for breaksfast or to bake with. The shed became a barn for Rex(the horse) and Champ(the pony). Rex and I never saw eye to eye. I would ride Rex over to the airport but only one of us would return home. Rex wanted to graze on the nice green grass and I could not get him to budge. Dad would have to go get him. My dad would hook Rex up to the sleigh as soon as...

I am very fortunate to have grown up in a loving home with Uncle Don and Aunt Phyllis as my "parents". Uncle Don was a great teacher with an unbelievable patience. I contribute my love of the outdoors to him. As a young girl I remember working in the garden with him (unfortunately I don't have his green thumb). One of my favorite gardening moments was digging up the potatoes and seeing the different shapes and sizes and imaging what animal or object a specific shape resembled. We had various...

I knew no other man than Uncle Donnie to be my grandfather. He may be my great uncle but I consider him to be my grandfather in every sense of the word. Since my paternal grandparents were deceased, Uncle Donnie treated me just like any of the other grandchildren.

I can still remember being a little girl and climbing up into his lap when he was in his easy chair. He would let me sit with him as he tried to relax after a long day at work or in the yard/garden. Whenever I pass by...