Angus "Gus" Gillis

Angus "Gus" Gillis Battle Creek Angus "Gus" Gillis, 91, of Battle Creek, MI died June 8, 2012 at home with his family. He was born in Port Hood on the Isle of Cape Breton in Nova Scotia Canada, August 25, 1920, the son of Duncan H. and Margaret Isabel (MacDougall) Gillis. After working in the gold mines in Quebec for several years, he enlisted in the Canadian Army, proudly serving as a tank unit radio operator in The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders and taking part in the liberation of Holland. After the war he worked for the Canadian Income Tax Department before immigrating to the Detroit area where he took a job with Chrysler and worked as an accountant for 29 years. He helped establish the Motor Parts Federal Credit Union and served on its Board of Directors for 23 years. He moved to Battle Creek in 2001. He met Mary Josephine "Jo" Beaton at a country dance in 1939. He wooed her from afar through the war and moving to the United States, finally marrying her on October 6, 1956. Jo, his devoted wife of 55 years, survives him, as do his three daughters, Anne (Thomas) Furlong of Saratoga California, Margaret (Vittorio) Bruni of Grosse Pointe Farms Michigan, and Elizabeth Gillis of Battle Creek. He leaves three cherished grandchildren, Alexander Furlong and Josephine and Meredith Bruni. Also surviving are his sisters, Lillian, Betty, Cecile, Rose and Gwen, and his brother John. He was preceded in death by three infant sons, his parents, his sisters Mary, Theresa and Anne, and his brother Lawrence. He was well loved and will be sorely missed by all his family. His Catholic faith was very important to him and he prayed the Rosary every day of his life. He was a generous man and demonstrated his faith through service to many organizations such as the Knights of Columbus and the Capuchin Monastery, also serving as a Eucharistic Minister, Consolation Minister, and a member of the Worship Commission at St. Peter's, Harper Woods Michigan. He was especially devoted to The Missionaries of Charity Soup Kitchen and Women's Shelter of Detroit where he served for many years as food server, plumber, electrician, sanitation engineer, chauffeur, and the first person called for any and all emergencies. He was a self taught fix-it expert and perfectionist, quietly going about home repairs and improvements for family, friends and neighbors. His children and certain friends will miss him very much when faucets leak, doors squeak, and furnaces poop out. Gus and Jo worked very hard to ensure their children had a good education, taking little time for themselves during school and college years. After retirement though, he found a taste for travel and took to the road, visiting every state in the Union except Rhode Island, laughing it was missed because it's so small. He also enjoyed trips to England, Ireland, and Scotland, where he travelled to the Outer Hebrides and toured by the church bus and the mail truck. He visited Australia, New Zealand, Bermuda and The Bahamas. He travelled to Holland to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Liberation by the Canadian Army in 1995 where he finally let go of his survivor's guilt. He visited his daughter Liz in Niger, West Africa when she was in the Peace Corps, and in his later years, he was privileged to go on pilgrimages to Israel, Italy, France, Spain and Portugal. Memorial contributions in memory of Gus can be made to either The Missionaries of Charity American Home Office at 335 East 145th Street, Bronx, NY 10451 or to the Immaculate Conception Church Cemetery Fund, c/o Father Bernie MacDonald, St. John the Baptist Church, RR2, Brook Village, Whycocomagh, NS Canada BOE 3MO. The family will receive friends from 2-4 and 6-8 on Friday, June 15, 2012 at Farley-Estes & Dowdle Funeral Home where the Rosary will be recited at 7:00 p.m., Friday. Funeral Services will be held Saturday, June 16, 2012 at 10:00 a.m. in St. Philip's Catholic Church, 112 Capital Avenue, NE with Rev. Father Harold Potter officiating. He will be buried back home in Cape Breton. Arrangements are by Farley-Estes & Dowdle Funeral Home. Personal messages may be left for the family at www.farleyestesdowdle.com.