(Editor's Note: Tony was kind enough to pass on the notes from his lovely spoken tribute to Neil on Sunday. He thought he might have been hard to understand due to English not being his native tongue and the emotion of the day. The emotion, in the end, was part of the message- and made it better. And the message was crystal clear. Thank you Tony!)
NEIL GILMER’S CELEBRATION OF LIFE MEMORIAL
PEACE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
NOVEMBER 28, 2010
INTRODUCTION
THANK YOU KAY, ELLEN AND DEAN FOR ALLOWING ME TO EXPRESS SOME WORDS ON THIS CELEBRATION OF LIFE FOR SOMEONE WE ALL LOVED AND CHERISHED. WE WERE FORTUNATE AND BLESSED TO HAVE HAD NEIL AMONG US IN OUR LIVES. HE WAS AN OUTSTANDING HUSBAND, FATHER, GRANDFATHER, FRIEND AND CITIZEN. HIS DEPARTURE IS DIFFICULT TO ALL, AND INDEED IT IS TO ME, AS WE BECAME VERY GOOD FRIENDS. I PROUDLY CALLED HIM BROTHER.
WHEN KAY & NEIL MOVED TO ORISTA BAY, ELEVEN YEARS AGO, NEIL AND I PLAYED GOLF A FEW TIMES BEFORE I MET KAY. WHEN I MET HER, SHE SAID TO ME: “YOU ARE GOING TO BE GOOD FOR NEIL”. I TOOK HER COMMENT AS A COMPLIMENT AND AS VOTE OF APPROVAL. THEREAFTER, WE HAD GREAT TIMES. DURING ELEVEN YEARS WE PLAYED MORE THAN 1,000 ROUNDS OF GOLF, MANY TIMES 27-36 HOLES PER DAY.
INTELLECT
NEIL WAS A PERSON OF GREAT INTELLECT. HE HAD DEEP KNOWLEDGE OF ABOUT EVERY CONCEIVABLE TOPIC, FROM THE SIMPLE ONES TO THE MOST COMPLICATED: TECHNICAL, SCIENTIFIC, THE SPACE, UNIVERSE, ARTS, ETC. HE TALKED ABOUT MANY TOPICS WITH AUTHORITY USING SIMPLE WORDS AND TERMS. HE WAS PROFESSORIAL AND WANTED TO BE CLEARLY UNDERSTOOD. I ENJOYED TALKING TO HIM FOR ENDLESS HOURS AS WE NEVER RAN OUT OF TOPICS, IT WAS NEVER BORING.
GOLF
NEEDLESS TO SAY, THAT NEIL WAS A GOLF ENTHUSIAST. AS A GOLFER HE WAS A TRUE LOVER OF THE GAME AND QUITE KNOWLEDGEABLE AND RESPECTFUL OF THE RULES AND ETHICS OF THE GAME. VERY IMPORTANTLY, HE WAS AND EXCELLENT GOLFER WITH GREAT ABILITY TO PLAY AROUND THE GREENS WHERE HE WAS ONE OF THE BEST.
THINGS WE SHARED
WE SHARED SO MANY STORIES FOR YEARS, INCLUDING THOSE OF OUR OWN FAMILIES. WE COUNSELED EACH OTHER ABOUT PROBLEMS AND DECISIONS. THERE ARE SIMILARITIES IN OUR UPBRINGING. ALTHOUGH FROM DIFFERENT COUNTRIES, WE HAD TO HUSTLE IN AGRICULTURAL COMMUNITIES LIVING WITHIN CERTAIN LIMITATIONS IN DIFFICULT TIMES.
WE ALSO HAD SIMILAR BACKGROUNDS IN BUSINESS AND THE CORPORATE WORLD, AS WE DEALT WITH LARGE ENTITIES AND TRAVELED TO MANY COUNTRIES. WE ALSO ANALYZED AND DISCUSSED PROBLEMS IN OUR SOCIETY AND IN THE WORLD, ALSO THE CHALLENGES ON THE U.S. ECONOMY IN THE GLOBAL MARKET. HE DISCUSSED THOSE ISSUES WITH KNOWLEDGE AND FACTS.
THE CLASSICAL MUSIC
THE CLASSICAL MUSIC ALSO UNITED US. BOTH OF US HAD MUSICAL EDUCATION AND WERE LOVERS OF IT. HE TOLD ME THAT HIS MOTHER INSPIRED HIS INTEREST IN CLASSICAL MUSIC - AND HE WAS VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE OF IT. AS WE BOTH HAD EXTENSIVE COLLECTIONS OF MUSIC, WE ENJOYED LISTENING TO MUSIC AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY.
FRENCH - WHEN YOUNG, HE SPENT A YEAR IN PARIS STUDYING FRENCH AT LA SORBONNE AND HE SPOKE FRENCH VERY WELL.
HUMOR
TO TALK ABOUT NEIL, WE HAVE TO MENTION HIS HUMOR. THIS WAS ONE OF HIS STRONGEST CHARACTERISTICS. HE WAS QUITE HUMOROUS AND WAS ALWAYS TELLING AND PLAYING JOKES ABOUT EVERYTHING. JOKES ABOUT HIS LIFE EXPERIENCE OR SPONTANEOUS ONES BASED ON THE SITUATION AT HAND. HE WOULD PLAY A SMALL PRANK AT ANY MOMENT. HE ENJOYED HUMOROUS MOVIES AND LOVED RECALLING LINES AND JOKES FROM THEM, ESPECIALLY “CADDY SHACK”, “SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT” AND “THE GREEK FAT WEDDING”. DUE TO HIS UNIQUE MEMORY HE COULD RECITE THE LINES AND RECALL THEIR SCENES ACCURATELY. HE HAD SO MUCH FUN DOING THIS AND MAKING PEOPLE LAUGH.
NEILISM
IN HIS WORKPLACE (MAINLY AT EATON), HE BECAME FAMOUS FOR WHAT THEY CALL NEILISMS. THESE ARE PHRASES AND LINES TO ILLUSTRATE AN ISSUE OR SITUATION, MOSTLY WITH HUMOR. NEIL USED THOSE TO MOTIVATE HIS CO-WORKERS AND THEY BECAME COMPANY SLOGANS TO THE EXTENT THAT HIS PEERS PUBLISHED A PAMPHLET WITH MORE THAN A 100 OF THOSE PHRASES. TO PROVOKE ME TO PLAY GOLF FOR LONGER HOURS, HE USED ONE OF THOSE LINES: “NEVER, NEVER LEAVE MONEY ON THE TABLE”, OR A RHETORICAL QUESTION- “ARE WE GOING TO LEAVE MONEY ON THE TABLE?”
SOMETIMES, WE LEFT MONEY ON THE TABLE. TODAY, I WISH I HAD STAYED WITH NEIL “ON THE TABLE” A LITTLE LONGER.
CLOSING
NEIL WAS A LEGEND AT WORK AND TO HIS NEIGHBORS AND FRIENDS. HE WAS AN INSPIRATION TO ME AND MANY. TODAY I TELL TO MY FRIEND AND BROTHER, THANKS FOR YOUR FRIENDSHIP, THE BEAUTIFUL DAYS OF GOLF AND GREAT MEMORIES. I WILL CHERISH OUR MEMORIES AND REMEMBER YOU FOR EVER. WHEN I ALSO MOVE TO THAT OTHER SPIRITUAL PLANE OF LIFE, I WILL LOOK FOR YOU TO RENEW OUR FRIENDSHIP AND CONTINUE PLAYING GOLF MUCH MORE.
PROMISE THAT THEN; WE WILL”NOT LEAVE MONEY ON THE TABLE.”
ANTONIO GONZALEZ
NEIGHBOR, FRIEND AND GOLF BUDDY 11-28-2010
OTHER EXTRA TOPICS
GOLF LEAGUE
DURING YEARS THE RESIDENTS OF H.C. TRIED UNSUCCESSFULLY TO ORGANIZE A GOLF LEAGUE FOR OUR RESIDENTS. THE PREVIOUS MANAGEMENT OF THE GOLF COURSE WAS INSENSITIVE TO OUR REQUEST. THREE YEARS AGO, HAVING A NEW MANAGEMENT AT THE CLUB, NEIL AND JOHN WISEMAN SUCCEEDED IN ORGANIZING THE GOLF LEAGUE THAT PLAYS WEEKLY AT THE HC GOLF COURSE. NEIL WAS PROUD OF THIS ACCOMPLISHMENT. THIS LEAGUE HELPED HIM MADE NEW GOLF FRIENDS.
FRUGALITY
NEIL GAVE A NEW PERSPECTIVE TO THE FRUGALITY CONCEPT. HE WAS PROUD OF HIS FRUGALITY AND WAS VERY ATTENTIVE AND OVER-CAUTIOUS WHEN DEALING WITH HIS MONEY FOR WHICH HE BECAME POPULAR. THERE WAS AN EXCEPTION TO THIS. IT WAS WHEN HE AND OTTO AND NANCY CANNIS BOUGHT A GORGEOUS BOAT VALUED IN MORE THAN $200K WHEN PURCHASED. AS HE WAS SO FRUGAL, I HAD TO INQUIRE HIM, - HOW DID YOU REACH THE DECISION TO BUY SUCH AN EXPENSIVE ASSET? IN A HUMOROUS MANNER HIS ANSWER WAS A PHRASE THAT BECAME POPULAR WHEN DURING THE TECHNOLOGY STOCK MARKET CRISIS AROUND YEAR 2000. HE SAID, “THAT WAS A MOMENT OF IRRATIONAL EXUBERANCE”.
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
NEIL GOT INVOLVED IN SEVERAL ACTIVITIES OF THE HUNTER’S CREEK COMMUNITY. HE SERVED ON THE ORISTA BAY NEIGHBORHOOD COMMITTEE FOR SEVERAL YEARS AND REPRESENTED US ON THE H.C. MASTER ASSOCIATION BOARD.
HALLOWEEN
ONE OF HIS FAVORITE FESTIVITIES WAS HALLOWEEN. USING THE EXPERIENCE HE BROUGHT FROM MICHIGAN, HE HELPED TO ORGANIZE THE FIRST HUNTER’S CREEP NIGHTS HAUNTED HOUSE AND HAYRIDE. THIS WAS AN ASTONISHING SUCCESS AND NEIL USED TO DRESS IN THE MOST DREADFUL COSTUMES AND OUTFITS, SUCH AS "THE GRIM REAPER" TO SCARE PEOPLE. HE HAD MUCH FUN DOING THIS.
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