George William (Bill) Gillett was born April 1, 1935, in Kansas City,
Kansas, the second child and son of Ira and Atha (Morlan) Gillett.
Bill was educated in the Kansas City, Kansas School system --
going to Mark Twain Grade School and Wyandotte High School. He
then graduated from the Kansas City, Kansas Junior College. He
attended Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas, where he
obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering.
Bill fulfilled his military obligation by doing a six-year stint
with the Army -- a combination of active-duty and reserve-duty.
After graduating from college, the next 42 years of his work
life were spent engineering and designing beverage dispensing
equipment for the restaurant industry as an employee of:
the Vendo
Company in Kansas City, Missouri, and Corinth, Mississippi
Alco Dispensing Systems (Reynolds Products) in Schaumburg,
Illinois
United Beverage in Carol Stream, Illinois and Savannah, Illinois,
where he was vice-president of Engineering
The last 12 years of his career were spent as President of K-Way
Products. This company was established in Mount Carroll, Illinois,
after a buy-out of the United Beverage product lines. It was a
major manufacturer of beverage equipment for companies like Taco
Bell, McDonald's and cruise ship lines. During this period of
time Bill lived in Clinton, Iowa.
As a youth Bill was very active in the Boy Scout organization and
continued his service as an adult leader for another 25 years. He took
scouts on trips to Canada, New Mexico, deep sea fishing in Texas,
horse-back and back-pack trips to Colorado and over 1,000 miles
canoeing numerous rivers in Kansas and Missouri.
Bill retired in 2000, sold his business and moved to Kimberling
City, Missouri, where he continues to work on his major loves --
genealogy and photography -- hobbies he has maintained for over 40 years.
Since joining the church in 1947, no matter where Bill was located,
the Presbyterian Church has been an important factor in his life.
Besides being active in normal church life, Bill has coached
basketball and softball, been Sunday School treasurer for 22 years,
church treasurer for 10 years and a church Elder for 19 years.
Presently he is active in the church life at St. Andrew Presbyterian
Church in Kimberling City, Missouri.
Although never married, family has been a major factor in Bill's
life.
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