Betty Gilmore

PEORIA - Betty Jean Gilmore, 89, of Peoria passed away and had her grace filled meeting with God on Saturday, Nov. 29, 2014, at her home.

She was born Aug. 1, 1925, in Peoria, Ill., to Robert Gilmore and Ellen Lehan Gilmore.

She is survived by her loving sister Margaret (Leon, d. 2003) Sullivan of Charlotte, N.C.; and her nephew, Tim Gilmore and his family in Peoria; as well as seven other nieces and nephews and many grand-nieces and nephews in Chicago, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Minneapolis and Washington, D.C.

She was preceded in death by her parents and her brother, Robert L. Gilmore (d. 2005) of Glencoe, Ill.

A lifelong resident of Peoria and a devout Roman Catholic, Betty attended grammar school at St. Bernard and high school at the Academy of Our Lady (class of 1943).

Following graduation from St. Teresa College, Betty earned her master's of social work degree from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., in 1951, and went on to a long and illustrious career in social services, culminating in the Executive Directorship of Catholic Social Services (CSS), Diocese of Peoria, from 1975 to 1995.

Betty was appointed to the Executive Directorship by Bishop Edward O'Rourke and also served under Bishop William E. Cousins and Bishop John B. Franz. She was the first woman and lay person to head CSS. Under Betty's leadership, CSS grew into a $27 million operation with over 700 employees that provided a full range of social services to 23,000 people, including a foster care program serving over 1,300 children, homes for unwed mothers, individual and family counseling services and child care programs at Guardian Angel Home in West Peoria.

In the world of fundraising, Betty was known for her tenacity and her commitment to strengthen families. She had a particular gift for helping the Illinois State Legislature and other government agencies "find" funding for social work programs that she believed were critical to developing and maintaining a healthy community. While under Betty's leadership, Catholic Social Services received accolades from the National Catholic Register as being "a model for the State of Illinois" for foster care, adoption services, counseling and childcare. Some of the more renowned programs developed under her included the Tha Houng-Refugee resettlement for unaccompanied minors from Southeast Asia in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, St. Anne Hall parenting program for teens, Jesu Day Care at Guardian Angel, the Chicago Project for foster care and counseling for abused and neglected children and the Natural Family Planning program. Most remarkably, in 1993, Betty was deeply honored to receive the Pro Ecclesia et Pontiface Papal Medal from Pope John Paul II.

Betty had a passion for traveling, and particularly enjoyed car trips to many of the national parks in the United States and Canada, and most destinations in between! A Civil War buff, Betty also enjoyed many sightseeing adventures to the battlegrounds on the East Coast. Aside from the Christmas season (which lasted until Easter for Betty!), her favorite time of year was autumn and it frequently included a trip to the Northeast to savor the splendor of the fall colors. Not a fan of air travel, Betty did manage to fly overseas to war-torn Lebanon on a rescue mission to bring children to safety. When not traveling, Betty enjoyed reading, bicycling and daily swims and took great pleasure in winning at nearly every card game she played in.

A memorial Mass will be at 1 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 5, 2014, at St. Bernard Catholic Church, with Msgr. Michael Bliss officiating. Visitation will be one hour prior to the mass at church. Burial will be in St. Mary's Cemetery in West Peoria.

Memorials may be made to OSF Saint Francis Medical Center Chapel.

Tributes and condolences may be submitted to www.wrightandsalmon.com.