October 14, 1931 – April 16, 2017 Grace Louella Kelly Gilliland, 85 years of age, passed away Sunday, April 16, 2017 at her residence in Gainesville, Texas. She was born October 14, 1931 in El Paso, Texas to parents, Curtis Hodge Kelly and Anita Mae Campbell Kelly. About age one her parents moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Grace attended and graduated from Daniel Webster High School in 1949 where she was active in various clubs and organizations and was a varsity cheer leader. She completed one year of college at what is now University of Central Oklahoma at Edmond, Oklahoma.
Grace married Darrell Gilliland December 10, 1954 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Together they had two children Bert Lee and Brenda Lynn. In 1951 she went to work for General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC) in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Marriage took her to Hood River, Oregon. She moved back to Tulsa for her husband to attend college and she found work at Amarado Petroleum. Later she returned to GMAC and worked in the Accounting Departments in Tulsa, Oklahoma City, and Edmond Oklahoma. She retired in 1992.
Together with her husband Darrell, they built both their residence in Edmond, Oklahoma and one in Gainesville, Texas. Besides building, she enjoyed doing lawn work and keeping her flower beds beautiful. She was a supporter of her children’s activities, Bert in sports and Brenda in her horse events. Her grandchildren were the love of her life and she followed them closely in both their academic and sporting successes.
After her retirement she and her husband bought a motor home and enjoyed travel. They joined Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA). She was very active in FMCA and two of its chapters. She served as an officer and wrote and published the chapter’s newsletters at different times. Traveling and living in their motor home seven years she acquired many new friends from across all of the United States.
Grace is survived by her husband of 62 years, Darrell, two brothers Paul Kelly of Largo, Florida, and John Kelly and his wife Margie of Atlanta, Georgia; her two children Bert Gilliland and his companion Donna Tatum and Brenda Gilliland Hardcastle and her husband Glen both of Gainesville, Texas, three granddaughters, Kelly Gilliland Crotser of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Katelyn Hardcastle Riggs of Whitesboro, Texas and Lydia Hardcastle of Odessa, Texas; one great-granddaughter, Skyler Crotser of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and many nieces, nephews and cousins. She is preceded in death by her parents Curtis and Mae Kelly and an older brother, James Kelly.
Burial will be a family service Thursday morning at 10 am at the Dallas/Fort Worth National Cemetery, 2000 Mountain Creek Pkwy, Dallas. TX 75211. A Celebration of Life Service will be held at the Meador Funeral Home Chapel at 2 PM Thursday. The location is 1204 E. California Street, Gainesville, TX. A reception-visitation will follow in the reception center.
No formal visitation is scheduled on Wednesday evening but the funeral home will be open until 8 p.m. so that family and friends may stop by and sign the memorial book for Grace.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggest memorials be made to the American Cancer Society or Home Hospice of Grayson, Cooke, and Fannin County’s, PO Box 936, Gainesville, Texas 76241.