Gerald Fillmore
Posted Jan. 26, 2015 at 3:15 PM
Plano,Texas
Gerald R. Fillmore, 97, long-time resident of El Dorado, died on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2015, in Plano, Texas.
Services are scheduled for 2 p.m. on Thursday, January 29, 2015, at the Carlson Funeral Home in El Dorado. Internment will follow at the Bella Vista Mausoleum in El Dorado.
He was born March 9, 1917, in Rosalia, to Albert M. and Bertha (Brent) Fillmore. He graduated from Rosalia High School in 1936. He married Rosa Marie Jellison on Oct. 8, 1950 in El Dorado.
Gerald was a decorated World War II Navy Chief. He served for six years in many of the major engagements in the Pacific Theater and was a survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor. After leaving the Navy, he worked for the U.S. Government as a Customs Inspector in Portland, Ore. He left government service to return to Butler County, to assist his father with farming and cattle operations. For 30 years, he was a partner in Jellison and Company, and later owned and operated the Stardust Motel and Restaurant and the adjacent Texaco Service Station in El Dorado. He also served as a substitute rural mail carrier in Butler County for about 15 years.
Later, Gerald and Rosa Marie relocated from Kansas to Plano, Texas, to be closer to their son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughters. While in Plano, they resided at Preston Place and more recently at the Legacy at Willow Bend.
Gerald was a member of the First United Methodist Church of El Dorado, Disabled Veterans of Foreign Wars, Survivors of Pearl Harbor, National Association of Atomic Veterans, American Legion, and B.P.O.E. Elks.
He is survived by: his wife, Rosa Marie; son, Robert M. Fillmore and his wife Judith A. Fillmore of Plano, Texas; son, Randall S. Fillmore of San Francisco Calif.; granddaughter, Katherine A. Fillmore of Dallas, Texas; and granddaughter, Christine M. Fillmore of New York, NY.
He was preceded in death by his parents;a twin brother; two other brothers; and two sisters.
A memorial has been established with the First United Methodist Church of El Dorado, Kansas, and the family has suggested memorials may also be made to the American Heart Association or the American Cancer Society.
Family Members
Parents
Albert Myron Fillmore
1888–1951
Bertha Alice Brent Fillmore
1879–1972
Siblings
Infant Son Fillmore*
1905–1905
Geneva Geraldine Fillmore*
1906–2000
Myron Maurice Fillmore*
1915–1951
Mary Marjorie Fillmore*
1915–2010
Charles Harold Fillmore*
1917–20
