Henry Gilliland

Henry Thomas "Hank" Gilliland, 78, of Mountain Home, passed away March 12, 2017. A Celebration of Hank's Life will be held at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, April 12, 2017, at Rost Funeral Home, McMurtrey Chapel, and inurnment will follow at Mountain View Cemetery.

Hank was born in Piper City, Ill., on March 1, 1939, to William James Gilliland and Allie Pearl Gray. He was the eighth of 10 siblings: Margaret, Phillip, Robert, Bea, William, Lloyd, Allie, Henry (the Eighth), Hazel and Johnny.

In 1959, he married Sylvia Katharina Schueler in Lodi, Calif. They had three children, Tom, Tim and Celeste. He also has a son, Darrell, whose mother was Carol Doughty.

Mountain Home became a home base so to speak as he lived in Illinois, Missouri, California, Colorado, Arizona, Oregon, Idaho, Rhode Island and the Carribean. In 2010, Hank and Sylvia renewed their vows.

In 2014, he was observed in Twin Falls with Dementia / Alzheimer Disease and lived at Cedar Crest Country Living until his passing. On March 4, family and friends celebrated his 78th birthday.

As a child, he earned the reputation of being a hard worker, which continued through his adulthood. From the farm to the cotton fields and orchards to the University of California Davis Campus Department of Pathology, he developed an interest in that department. He was allowed to have a bench where he conducted some experiments of his own and greenhouse maintenance including a way to distribute the temperature without blowing directly on the plants. He could always figure out ways to fix things and his children's friends called him "McGiver."

He was an instructor to many young people in the concrete and building trades, including his sons Tom, Tim, Darrell and his daughter, Celeste, always looking for a better way to do things. Two significant projects were the Wells Memorial Clinic and the Desert Sage Apartments off 3rd Street in Mountain Home.

Through no fault of his own, an accident while working on the second floor of a building in Hailey, a bunk of lumber sent him plummeting to the ground and crushing his wrists, which was the end of his career as a carpenter and the family business Full Spectrum Carpentry.

As a teen, he got a guitar and enjoyed singing and playing the guitar. He knew many country songs and acquired the nickname, "Elvis." Later, country Gospel songs were prominent in his life, and with Sylvia and Celeste, he did some mini concerts in Lodi, Calif. His voice and music were cherished by many.

Hank loved the outdoors, camping, hunting and fishing especially.

In the Bible, it says that Satan came to steal, kill and destroy, but Jesus came to give us life more abundant. We got robbed through the illness of Alz. Through his confession of faith in Jesus, Hank has gone to be with his Lord.

As he was walking out of the hospital where he was diagnosed, he said to the nurse, "I am a man of God." She responded, "Yes. You are."

His care givers expressed how much they enjoyed Hank. That wasn't the case at the first when the confusion of the disease began. The book "36 Hours a Day" has insight to the disease.

Hank is survived by his wife, Sylvia "G.G." Gilliland' his son, Tom and wife Shannon Gilliland; Tom's daughter, Erica and her husband, Moses Bentencourt, and their four children; daughter Tomarah and husband, Cory Tomlison; sons Tony, Bobby and Chris Longo (wife Brittany and baby Stella); his daughter, Celeste Gilliland (Howard Kibe); Celeste's daughter, Frachera Schnur; Celeste's sons Zach and Zane Slack; his son, Darrel Doughty; and Darrell's daughters, Maykala, Kera and Sasha and Sasha's and children.

He is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews that held Hank in high esteem for the part he played in their lives. He was preceded in death by his parents, William and Allie Gilliland; his son, Tim; his nephews, Bobby Joe Gilliland and Steve Gilliland; brothers Robert, William, and Phillip; and Darrell's mom, Carol Doughty.

The things that are seen are temporary, the things that are unseen are eternal. Go with God healed and free.