Patrick Alonzo Tillery

Patrick (Pat) Alonzo Tillery was born in Wichita Falls, TX on March 4th, 1932, and passed away peacefully on December 16th, 2023. He was preceded in death by his parents Joe and Grace Tillery, his brother Joe B. Tillery, Jr. and a grandson Si Alonzo Tillery. He leaves his loving wife Linda E. Tillery, their son Gregory Quinn Tillery (Dana), and two adoring grandchildren, Greta and Seren Tillery. He attended the University of Texas under an NROTC scholarship and served as a Midshipmen before joining the Naval Cadet Program at NAS Pensacola, where he trained as a fighter pilot for the US Marine Corp. After his tour of duty with the Marines, Pat joined the Federal Aviation Administration in Miami, FL, serving as an Air Traffic Controller until 1968, when he moved to Bangkok, Thailand to train Thai Air Traffic Controllers for the US State Department. Linda joined him shortly thereafter and they were married in Bangkok on December 9th, 1968. After three years in Bangkok, and the birth of their son Gregory in 1971, Pat's career took him and his family to the Panama Canal Zone where they spent the next five years. Upon completion of that tour, they returned to Pensacola, FL where he continued with the FAA until his retirement in 1986, after which Pat and Linda spent the next several decades touring the USA in their RV. During his time with the FAA, a lifelong interest in computers was sparked, culminating in the creation of kilroywashere.org, a website originally created to research the history of that famous graffiti, but grew into a large online community of WWII veterans, their families, and aficionados, who would connect, share their stories, and post Kilroy sightings from all over the world. This passion project culminated in the publication of his book Kilroy Was Here in 2015. To this day, Pat's original depiction of Kilroy has become the world's most reproduced version of that ubiquitous icon.
Pat's family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, or the charity of your choice.