Celebrant Pam Vetter


	Celebrating Life Everyone Has A Story...

The Perfect Protagonist: 1933 - 2006
Contributed by: Pam Vetter on 8/25/2006

Avid Valley Reader With Books by Her Side

8/25/06 Valley News Article

Geraldine Wilma Gillette, a long-time resident of North Hollywood and 30 year employee of NBC, passed away in her childhood home. An avid reader her entire life, a stack of books were at her side as she passed away. She was 73.

A Celebrant funeral service was held in her memory at Pierce Brothers Valhalla Memorial Park in North Hollywood. A Celebrant is someone who meets with the family prior to service and researches someone's life story. At the service, Gerrie's story was detailed, her favorite music was played, and a few of her books were on display. At the reception, immediately following the service, Gerrie's favorite chocolate chip cookies were served. As Gerrie loved reading mysteries, she also had many stories to share from her own life.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was President of the United States when Gerrie was born in 1933. It was the time of great writers such as Isadora Duncan, James Thurber, and Ernest Hemingway. Gerrie was the first born to Walter and Helen Gillette. Her mother's family was part of the Santa Maria family, who were the first Europeans to settle in Topanga. Santa Maria Road is named after them in the Topanga area. Meanwhile, on her father's side, King Gillette was an 8th cousin who invented a special blade for the safety razor in 1901. Gerrie's father told stories about playing golf with King Gillette.

Three years after Gerrie's birth, the family welcomed the birth of a second daughter, Barbara. They lived in Merced on an incredible ranch for a few years until the war broke out. Gerrie's father accepted a job with Lockheed. The family purchased a house in North Hollywood in the early 40's that would serve as Gerrie's home for the rest of her life, including her closing chapter.

At that time in history, beautiful farms with fruit trees and dairies decorated Sherman Way. It was a time of rationing products from shoes to sugar. There were also air raids. When the siren went off, families were required to turn off their lights. Gerrie's mother would sneak into the kitchen and grab the popcorn popper, which had a hand crank. The family used flashlights or candles by which they would eat popcorn and play Parcheesi, Checkers, and card games while sitting in the hallway. Other times, they read books in the hallway. The whole family loved to read books that would soar their imagination.

Reading was very important to the girls and their mother would drive them to the North Hollywood library to check out books. As a result, the girls learned to read early and both skipped Kindergarten. Barbara remembers their mother had a great influence on the girls to see the glass as half full, not half empty. Gerrie always looked at the positive.

Her first job was at Beakins Van and Storage on Lankershim as a bookkeeper. After Barbara landed a job at NBC, Gerrie followed her lead and moved to NBC to an accounting position, where she worked for the next 30 years. Both Gerrie and Barbara met Bob Hope while working at NBC.

Gerrie encountered ups and downs in life. Two of her fiance's were lost. The first died in an apartment fire. The second worked in NBC management when he disappeared. He was never found again. These traumatic experiences were difficult, but Gerrie continued reading her books and looked toward the future. Over the next two decades, a really nice man, Ron, became her companion. They went to movies, dinners, and traveled together around the Western United States and Canada. They even shared a wonderful trip to Hawaii. Gerrie retired from NBC with 30 years of service and received a certificate of service, which was signed by NBC President Robert Wright.

The best part of Gerrie's life was her family. She also had a great love of books and one of her wishes was to have a separate library for her books. In a way, she was never alone because characters surrounded her in her books. Over the years, Gerrie and Barbara exchanged books to read. Gerrie's favorite authors were Mary Higgins Clark, Nora Roberts, and Jonathan Kellerman. She also belonged to the Reader's Digest Book Club.

The final chapter of her life played out in the home she loved so much. Nearby, there were a dozen books on the table, some of them mysteries, as she passed away. The closing song played at her funeral service was "My Way," by Frank Sinatra.

Over the weekend, Barbara threw an 80th birthday celebration at Alessio's Restaurante for her husband, Bill Celello. Relatives and friends flew in from around the country to celebrate Bill's birthday. Barbara marked a seat with Gerrie's name on it so her sister would be remembered as well.

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