John Gill

John Gill passed away on Sunday, March 6, 2005, at Kingston Nursing Home of Ashland, Ohio, just one day prior to his 98th birthday.

He was born March 7, 1907, to John A. and Molly (Bowman) Gill, in Strangford. He was a Methodist minister and later a school teacher while living in Pennsylvania. He taught at the Josephine school and at Bolivar. For a short time he also owned a greenhouse in Ligonier where he sold plants and had a honey route along with the greenhouse. In his youth he worked at the stone quarry at Torrance and the local coal mines. John moved his family to Ashland, Ohio in 1950, where he was employed at Myers Pump Company while attending Ashland College. He previously attended Cincinnati Bible College and Asbury College in Wilmore, Ky. He was involved in the landscaping trade for many years in Ashland, owning his own business. John and his wife, Elizabeth A. Leaf, whom he married on June 11, 1938, then joined the Methodist mission board, serving at Boylan-Haven-Mather academy, a black private school in segregated Camden, S.C. From there they were on the faculty and staff at West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon, W.Va. After retirement here, they moved back to Ashland, Ohio to be near their son in 1992. John was preceded in death by his parents and all five of his sisters: Ida Olsen, Coral Hamilton, Gladys, Wilda Way and Georgie Jones; only brother Gale, and his wife of 58 years on July 12, 1996. He is survived by two sons: James D. and Shonette of Kenosha, Wis., and John T. and Carol of Ashland; Also four grandchildren; a sister Dorthy Walter, Latrobe; and numerous nieces and a nephew. Funeral services will be held today at 11 a.m. at the Ferguson Funeral Home, Blairsville, with the burial in Blairsville Cemetery. There will be a simple service at the funeral home prior to going to the cemetery according to Mr. Gill's wishes.