Honoring a Neighbor
By John Mongoven
On a beautiful, sunny afternoon
on March 15, more than 40
friends, neighbors and fellow golfers
joined together to honor and
remember Neil Gilmer. Neil was one of the founders of the Hunter’s
Creek Golf League, which tees off every Tuesday afternoon at the
Hunter’s Creek Golf Club.
A memorial bench with a distinguished bronze plaque was unveiled
and dedicated in Neil’s honor. At the dedication ceremony, I stated
that it was most appropriate for the bench to be placed between the
driving range and the putting green, as it would be an idyllic spot to
relax and enjoy the serene and beautiful surroundings
of the golf course. Neil spent quite a bit of
time there. He loved the game and was a very
good player.
After a welcome and thank you to those in attendance,
Kay Gilmer, Neil’s wife of 46 years, stepped
forward to thank everyone for their donations to
the bench fund and for their friendship to Neil.
Neil’s long-time playing partner, Tony Gonzalez,
then stepped forward to say a few heartfelt words
to pay homage to our friend. Tony expressed all of
our feelings of loss for this great man and how fitting
it was that Neil would be remembered every
time someone came to sit and reflect with Neil’s
angel looking on.
Neil passed away at the age of 69 on November
19, 2010 after a long and difficult battle with cancer.
A long-time resident of Orista Bay in Hunter’s
Creek, Neil was an addicted golfer - he was such a
fanatic about the game that he would sometimes
play more than 36 holes in a day! All you had to
do was mention the word “golf” and he was ready
to play.
Neil’s favorite course was Hunter’s Creek and
he often voiced his opinion that
Hunter’s Creek needed a community
golf league. So, along with
John Wiseman and Dan Rapp,
they put their heads together and
started one. I was able to join
their foursome every week, and,
whether you played well or poorly,
Neil made sure everybody had a
great time. His humor and dry wit
were a very important part of his
game.
Thanks to Neil and several others, the Hunter’s Creek Golf League has
become a very successful weekly community event. His beautiful memorial
bench will offer a place to take a moment to reflect and enjoy
the beauty of the day.
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(Editor's Note: A special thank you to John M not only for this article- which is great. But especially for his, and the whole golf foursome mentioned above: for not only their dedication to golf, which Neil enjoyed, but their dedication to their friends. It was amazing how Neil perked up when they came by so often in his final weeks and how much they did for him both physically and emotionally when golf was the furthest thing from Neil's body (even if not his mind). Thank you John M, John W, and Dan R!)
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