Loyal "George" GILSON

Loyal "George" Gilson of Spokane, WA, passed away on October 27, 2025. He was born on June 28, 1937, in Lewiston, ID, and was a son of Stanley and Lorene Gilson. George was a firstborn twin and was named after his paternal grandfather. Stanley was in the construction business, so the family moved to wherever the work was until George was eight, at which time the family purchased a farm near Spirit Lake, ID. They moved out each winter but always returned to "the ranch" until George graduated from Spirit Lake High School in 1955, when the family returned to Lewiston.

George went into construction with his father and branched off to become a building contractor in Lewiston. At age 21, he married Carolyn Luy of Lewiston, and they had three children, Mike, Brian, and Cheryl.

George moved his family to British Columbia, Canada, in 1967, where he went into ranching. He first lived near Anaheim Lake, BC, an area well described as the final cattle ranching frontier in the book Grass Beyond the Mountain by Richmond Hobson Jr. From Anaheim Lake, George settled in the Williams Lake area on the Caribou Highway. He ran about 600 cows and had over 100% calf crops, getting more twins than losses. He was always a builder, adding new buildings and improving existing ones. His Mission Onward Ranch had about 8 miles of the San Jose River, and the Bear Valley Ranch sided the Quesnel River salmon fishing. He ranched mainly in BC; however, he also had another ranch in Alberta, Canada, for about three years. George lived in Canada for 44 years, where he ranched, built structures, and dealt in land purchases and sales.

Around 2010, he satisfied one item from his bucket list by traveling the Dempster Highway with his twin and wife, John and Nancy. The 500 miles of dirt and gravel road runs from Dawson City, Yukon, through the Arctic Circle, to the mouth of the McKenzie River, as it empties into the Beaufort Sea of the Arctic Ocean.

George and Carolyn divorced in 2009, and George retired and moved back to the Spokane area, where his brothers lived. In 2013, George married Judi Green and moved to the Indian Trail area in Spokane.

George is survived by his wife, Judi; brothers, Greyson (Dorothy), twin, John, and Loren (Tesse); children, Brian (Dolly), Mike (Lindy), and Cheryl (Ed); and stepchildren, Renee (Walter), Kenneth, and Jennifer (Timothy). George has three children, nine grandchildren, three great-granddaughters, and numerous nieces and nephews.

A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, November 15th, at 10am, at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, located at 34221 N. Newport Hwy, Chattaroy, WA 99003.