Remembering Dan Gilliland

Remembering Dan Gilliland

Last Saturday night, at Saint Joe’s Hospital, I sat with my friend, Dan Gilliland, watching the Michigan Washington football game. Dan was going to be heading into surgery the next morning. A week earlier, he had been admitted to the hospital for treatment of diverticulitis. Usually this is a painful condition which is easily treated, but for Dan, the condition worsened over several days, until he was facing surgery to repair an abscess in his colon. Dan was a very active man of 77 who was in relatively good health.

As we watched the football game, we talked mainly about football and Michigan‘s chances against Washington. We were both bored with the game because Michigan was running the ball so often that there was not much excitement left in the game. We talked a bit about his surgery, but it was clear that he didn’t want to get too deeply into it. He said he was confident, but expressed also worry about the outcome. As I left at halftime, we expressed our love for one another, and then Dan was off to the bathroom.

The next morning we awaited word from his wife Betty-Ann and were relieved to find out that he had come through the surgery OK. That very night, Dan called us from the hospital to thank us for all we have done for him and to tell us he loved us. Pat and I told each other how deeply moved we were by his words. We also thought it was a little strange for him to call so soon after surgery.

On Monday morning we learned that Dan had taken a turn for the worse. By Tuesday we learned he died from heart surgery. Today, we are preparing for his funeral. My wife Pat and her good friend Donna, will be providing part of the eulogy.

Dan was a very good man in so many ways. He reminded me of Teddy Roosevelt. Whatever he decided to try out he did it with enthusiasm. He was always “all in”  or “balls out” as we boys like to say it. Earlier in his life it was auto racing, followed by auto cross country racing. In the years we knew him, first it was tango, linguistics for which he went back to school to get a bachelor’s degree. Once he had completed that, he got back into fly fishing (of course tying his own flies). For the last few years, he learned bridge and skeet shooting, which he kept up even after shooting off one of his fingers. He was not deterred and continued to win awards. Oh, I forgot to mention his three dogs in his property where he loved to chop wood. He was married for 40 some years and has a daughter and granddaughter who he doted on.

He kept working as an expert endodontist who loved teaching at the dental school. He was also an enthusiastic sports fan who loved Michigan sports.Dan was one of those rare men who is able to do all of that stuff and still maintain friendships with many men from all walks of his life.

I’ve learned so much from Dan. Here are a few of those lessons:

1. For those you love, let them know.

2. Laugh loud and hardy.

3. Enjoy every day.

4. When trying something new, persist at it until you learn the basics.

5. Know when to win, and know when to walk away, and when to run.

6. Always do the right thing.

7. It is possible to live life to its fullest.

8. Dan thrived by keeping up his end of amazing relationships.

9. If you love your work, you can keep it as long as possible.

10. You can continue to learn throughout your life, no matter how old you are.

11. That learning process will keep you alive and well.

 

All of his friends and I will miss Dan every time we sit down to watch a sporting event, every time we play a game, every time we need a good friend to bolster our spirits with, and every time we go out into the woods.