Delores Gilliam

Delores Colean Gilliam peacefully transitioned into the presence of her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ on Tuesday, September 24, 2024, while in hospice in Baltimore, Maryland at the age of 96. Delores was born on September 10, 1928, in Chesterfield, Virginia, the first of seven daughters of the late Thomas E. Hill and Martha Mason Hill. On September 8, 1951, she married her high school sweetheart, Samuel (Sam) Gilliam, who had enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1948. They had two daughters, Serelda and Doretha, and established the family home in Aberdeen in 1962. Delores was a devoted wife and mother who supported her husband's thirty-year army career and rise to the rank of sergeant major. She was an excellent typist and stenographer who worked as a secretary at various military installations. Delores completed her associate's degree from Harford Community College in 1979, followed by a bachelor's in accounting from the University of Maryland in 1985. She was a dedicated civil servant in the APG Cost Accounting office before her retirement in 1998. Throughout their lives together, Delores and Sam shared a great love for traveling around the world. When Sam was selected as a member of the United States Delegation to the Presidential Mission to Korea in the year 2000, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Korean War, she accompanied him on a most memorable occasion. Delores' other interests included exercising at the local gym, even into her early 90s, and playing bingo with friends. She was a faithful member of the APG Post Chapel and volunteered for ten years with the APG Federal Credit Union. She was also a Board member of the Martha Mason Hill Memorial Foundation, supporting its mission of increasing educational opportunities for students in Chesterfield County, VA. In addition to her parents and husband Sam, Delores was preceded in death by her sisters Charlotte Johnson, Doris Stephenson, and Euletta Hatchette, all of Chesterfield, Virginia. Left to cherish her memory are her loving and devoted daughters, Serelda Matthews and Doretha Houston, both of Baltimore, Maryland; one son-in-law, James Houston III, Baltimore, Maryland; five grandchildren, Alecia Amoo, Knightdale, North Carolina, James Houston, IV (Kike), Chicago, Illinois, Michael Houston, Baltimore, Maryland, Daniel Houston, Silver Spring, Maryland, and Natalie Houston, Baltimore, Maryland; two great grandchildren, Olivia Amoo, Knightdale, North Carolina and London Houston, Chicago, Illinois; three sisters, Sarah Cheatham, Chesterfield, Virginia, Shirley Baugh, Croton-on-Hudson, New York, and Alberta Stith, Mitchellville, Maryland; one brother-in-law, Dr. James Stith, Mitchellville, Maryland; special nieces, Trudy and Judy Stephenson, Chesterfield, Virginia; and a host of other nieces, nephews, relatives and friends. Her funeral service, entrusted to J.M. Wilkerson Funeral Establishment, Petersburg, VA, was held at Union Grove Baptist Church, South Chesterfield, VA on Saturday, 12 October 2024, with internment at Dinwiddie Memorial Park, North Dinwiddie, VA. Memorial contributions may be forwarded to the Martha Mason Hill Memorial Foundation, 2013 Clearwater Drive, Mitchellville, MD 20721-2511.