- Date Of Birth: June 16, 1935
- Date Of Death: July 6, 2012
- State: Maryland
Henry Lee Gillis, Sr., entered into eternal rest on July 6, 2012, at the Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, VA. Early in his life he accepted Christ as his savior and was baptized at Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church in Lincolnia, Virginia, and later joined Mt. Sinai Baptist Church in Washington, D.C.
He was born Henry Lee Johnson on June 16, 1935, in Louisa, Virginia, to the late Thomas M. Johnson and the late Maggie Louise Johnson Gillis. Since he had used the name Henry Lee Gillis from early childhood when his mother married John Mitchell Gillis after the death of his father, he legally changed his name to Henry Lee Gillis. He was predeceased by his only sibling, James “Skip” Edward Gillis.
Henry received his education in public schools in Falls Church, VA, where he attended with his good friend the late Eugene “Slim” Tucker who also would become his brother-in-law. He married the late Geneva G. Gil-lis on July 23, 1955, and from that union seven children were born. He supported his rather large family as a Machine Operator for the Washington Gas utility company where he worked for twenty-six years and re-ceived numerous awards and honors until his retirement in 1995. While employed at Washington Gas, Henry was also the founder, Chief Executive Officer, and chief mechanic of H.L.
Left to celebrate his legacy and precious memories are his devoted and faithful wife, Virginia J. Gillis; Henry Gillis, Jr., Shirley Gillis-Camper (Roy), Annette Gillis, Sherman Keith Gillis (Robin), Eva Gillis (Alvin Lewis), and Frances Gillis. (He was preceded in death by his first-born, daughter Brenda Louise Gillis Nelson.) He also leaves step-daughter Paulette Branch (Lane); sister-in-laws Bertha Tucker, Mary Booker Tucker, and Florine Culley; grandchildren Henry Gillis, III, Dana Nelson, Frederick Nelson, Danielle Camper-Jackson, Erinn Hamlin, Geneva Gillis, Gena Gillis, and Daynen Korneagy Gillis; step-grandson Eric Branch; great grandsons Julius Gil-lis, Nehemiah Jackson, and Erinn Hamlin, Jr.; a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, other relatives, dear friends, and treasured Mt. Sinai family.
