Richard James Gillette, Sr. |
| Posted 2020-10-07 by mhenderson |
| Published in Today's News Herald on Oct. 7, 2020 - Lake Havasu City, Arizona - Richard James Gillette, Sr. was born in Liberal, Kansas on July 27, 1935 to Bertha and Herbert Gillette. He graduated from Mark Keppel High School in July 1953 and married LaJuana Gibson on Aug. 1, 1953. He passed away from heart failure on Sept. 26, 2020. He worked as a general contractor building custom homes until 1983 when he moved to Bakersfield and started work in the oil fields, building new pipelines and doing maintenance work on oil leases. Richard and LaJuana lived all over California: Visalia, Cambria, Morro Bay, Atascadero, and Templeton building custom homes. They retired to Lake Havasu City in 2003. Richard is survived by his wife of 67 years, LaJuana Gillette; his two sons, William Herbert and Richard James, Jr.; four grandchildren, William Parker, Suzanne Huminik , Jessica Gillette Swensor, Becky Brookshire; and eight great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his grandson, Richard James Gillette, III. Richard started a new VFW in Maricopa, California and served many years as the commander and quartermaster. He earned white hats in both positions. He was a member of the Eagles, American Legion, Elks, and a lifetime member of the VFW. He loved his desert tortoises and had a tortoise hotel in his backyard. He had a wonderful sense of humor and was warm and generous with his family and friends. He will be greatly missed. Services will be held on Oct. 16 at 2:30 p.m. at the McCulloch Calvary Baptist Church. In lieu of flowers, please donate to Hospice of Havasu. |
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