Jerome H. Gillar, 84, of Moulton, passed away May 15, 2024.  He was born in Vienna, TX, December 22, 1939, to Miloslav Gillar & Julia (Janak) Gillar.  He was born on the Boska Ranch where his dad was working.  They survived the flood of 1940.  They had to be rescued by boat.  The house they were living in was on an island.  When it got 60 steps across, his dad was tearing down the barn to make a boat, but they were rescued by a boat.

When Jerome was about 2-3 years old, they moved to the Charlotenburg area where his dad bought a farm.  He lived there until he was about 20 years old.  He went to Charlotenburg School for 4 years and finished school at St. Ludmila's Academy in Shiner; being not the brightest student but was the highest-ranking boy.  He then attended Texas A&M College where he crowded 4 years of college into 4 ½ years.

After college, Jerome went to work for International Harvester Co in the Tractor Division.  He got married and had one daughter – a very wonderful person, Stacey – where he got a very good son-in-law and 2 grandsons, Abraham and Moses.

Jerome liked to hunt and fish.  He hunted on the Saddleback Ranch in the Davis Mountains in west Texas.  He hunted mule deer, javelina, and quail there for nineteen years.  He also hunted in Colorado, New Mexico, old Mexico, Wyoming, Montana, and Kansas.  He fished in Port O'Connor, Port Isabell, and other saltwater areas.  He had the good fortune to be friends with a high school classmate, Leonard Tichavsky, who owned a 72' boat in Alaska.  Leonard invited him, among other friends, to fish, etc. on the boat.  Jerome made a total of 8 trips to Alaska fishing plus 2 other trips to Alaska on his own.  He fished for salmon, halibut, rockfish, crab, prawns, etc.  He was lucky to have a friend like that.

Jerome liked to travel.  He covered all the states except Hawaii.  He especially liked the western states – Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, etc.  He liked the old bars in all those places.  In later life, he met a very charming young lady, Shirley Morrison, who kind of liked to live like he did. Together they traveled the western states, the east coast, Canada, Maine, Scotland, Ireland, England, France, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and Bastogne Belgium.  They had a lot of good times together.

Jerome's first trip to California was unique.  When he was working for International Harvester he had a dealer in Falfurrias TX.  The dealer had sold a vehicle to a customer and financed it for him.  He had to repo it, but it was in Los Angeles, CA.  He was having difficulty selling it there.  On a Friday at lunch, he said he would pay anyone's way to get it.  He was having nothing to do that weekend, and wanting to see California, said he would do it.  Hopping a plane in Corpus to Houston to LA, he was there to pick up the vehicle at 1pm when the store closed.  He jumped into the vehicle, had 2 beers, and headed to Texas.  He picked up a hitchhiker in Tucson to help him drive. The hiker was a Navy cook and was going to New Orleans, they made good time to San Antonio where he got off.  Jerome got back to Corpus before Sunday noon – 48 hours.  That dealer was glad to see him Monday morning!  Any number of things could have gone wrong.

One other incident in Jerome's life was when he was very young, he and his family went to see their grandparents on Sunday.  He had shoes on but when they got to his grandparent's house, the shoes came off.  It was all good until next Sunday when it was time to go to church.  He had to wear his shoes but where were they?  He lied and said he didn't know.  He didn't want to say because he would get a thrashing.  Finally, my dad said that they were going to church and when they got back, he had better have those shoes.  As soon as they were over the hill, he took off with his dog to his grandparent's house – 2 -3 miles away.  His grandparents were also at church but his shoes were there in the front room.  He put them on and headed back home with his dog.  He got about 2/3 of the way home and here comes his dad.  They had gotten home and couldn't find him.  They looked in the tank, in the pasture, in the well, and they were upset.  Finally, they figured out what he might have done and drove to the grandparents' house and found him.  We all got home glad to see each other and ate a watermelon. They were good parents.

Jerome liked to cook but wasn't very good at it.  He liked to help out at St. Mary's Picnic cooking sausage.  It's good to see old friends.  He had a good life.  He had a lot of good times and doesn't want anyone to feel sorry for him.  Rather, they should salute him by having a beer.  Also, he was a model Historian.  He knew a lot about Witting and the old times.

Jerome thanks God for a good life, good childhood and parents, brother and sisters, a good daughter, her husband and children.  Did what I wanted to do He traveled where he wanted going to 49 states, Mexico, and Europe, and 8 times to Alaska.  He enjoyed his grandson's coming to the farm for visits.  He had lots of fun and if there is a 'here after,' he hopes they let him in.

Jerome was preceded in death by his parents, 2 sisters, Margaret Ebert & Kathryn Lee and brother Eugene Gillar.

Funeral Mass Service: 10:30 am, Monday, May 20, 2024, at St. Mary's Catholic Church; with Visitation starting at 9 am and Rosary at 10 am. Officiant: Msgr. John Peters. Memorials: Donor's Choice. Burial: St. Anthony's Catholic Cemetery.