Otis “Gill” Gilliland, 95, of Wichita, died at 11:14 p.m., Tuesday, July 2, 2019 at the Derby Health and Rehabilitation Center in Derby, Kansas.
Otis was born August 6, 1923 in Copan, Oklahoma, a son of Russell and Mary (Ferrell) Gilliland. He attended Earlton Elementary School and graduated from Girard High School in 1941.
In 1941, Miss Jane Townsend, a Girard High School Principal, nominated Otis to attend Boys State which was held in Wichita.
Otis attended Pittsburg State University before entering the US Army in 1943. He served in the infantry in the Pacific Theater where he was wounded in Okinawa. He received a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for his services and was honorably discharged in 1945. While recovering from his war injuries, Otis was in the Fitzsimons Army Medical Center in Denver and it was there he met a candy striper named Edy Lesure. They were lifelong friends and after Wanda passed away, she became his companion. She survives in Glendale, Arizona.
He returned to Pittsburg State University for a year before attending Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas where he received his degree in Engineering.
Otis married Wanda L. Snyder in July 20, 1948 in Moscow, Kansas. She preceded him in death on July 20, 2013 after 65 years of marriage.
Otis worked as an engineer for Boeing Aircraft Company in Wichita before retiring in 1985. Otis and Wanda were co-owners with his brother, Stan, and his wife, Carol, of Medicine Bow Motors in Missoula, Montana from 1985 until returning to Wichita in 1995.
Otis was a member of the Metropolitan Baptist Church in Wichita and he enjoyed his cats, square dancing, and working on Cord and Auburn automobiles.
Additional survivors are his brother, Stan Gilliland, and his wife, Carol, of Wellington, Kansas; a brother-in-law, Don Snyder, and his wife, Beverly, of Moscow, Kansas; many nieces and nephews.
Otis was preceded in death by a son, Steve; a daughter, Jetta; an infant brother, Cecil; and his sisters Frances and Pauline.
Funeral services will be at 2:00 p.m., Saturday, July 6, 2019 at the Smith-Carson-Wall Funeral Home in Girard with Pastor Rick Prideaux officiating. Burial will be in the Girard Cemetery with Military Honors by the Brown-Bishop Post No. 704, Veterans of Foreign Wars.
The family will receive friends from 1:00 p.m., until service time at the Smith-Carson-Wall Funeral Home where friends may call after 5:00 p.m., Friday.
In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to the SEK Humane Society and these may be left at the Smith-Carson-Wall Funeral Home, 518 W St. John, Box 258, Girard, 66743.
Condolences may be sent to www.wallfuneralservices.com
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