Gertrude Gilligan

December 01, 1927 - June 14, 2010

Gertrude L. (Lorrie) Gilligan passed away in Palo Alto on June 14 after a brief struggle with lung cancer.  She was 82.  The fifth of seven children, Lorrie was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Her parents were originally from Kentucky and as a girl she enjoyed spending her summers there with her extended family on their farms.  In 1947, when she was 19, she came to the Bay Area, where she met and married Gene Gilligan, then a newspaper reporter with the Oakland Tribune.  In 1955 they settled in the Greenmeadow neighborhood of Palo Alto, and raised two children there.  Except for four years in the 1960’s when the family relocated to Tenafly, New Jersey, following her husband’s transfer to ABC Television News in New York, she spent the rest of her life living in Palo Alto.  Prior to settling on her ultimate career is real estate sales, she worked as an executive secretary at Bank of America headquarters in San Francisco, for the Chamber of Commerce in Palo Alto and for Peter Pan Foundations in New York. Probably her most interesting work experience was assisting her husband in setting up press coverage in Oklahoma for the 1964 presidential election.  In 1970 she settled on real estate as a career that ultimately spanned 40 years.  Initially she went to work for Cornell Realty in Palo Alto.  Over the years she worked at several other agencies, always finding great reward in locating the right home for families.   In retirement, she enjoyed spending time with her family, including her daughter Sarah Gilligan Tull and her husband Todd Wagner of Los Alto Hills; her son Bob Gilligan and his wife Rena of Burlingame; and her five grandchildren Stephen, Jonathan and Patrick Tull, and Erin and Peter Gilligan.  In her spare time she greatly enjoyed her garden, rooting for the SF Giants and the Cincinnati Reds, and lunching with her real estate buddies.  She is also survived by her sisters Thelma Pennekamp and Shirley Turkelson of Cincinnati; brother Clifford Dixon of Central California; and step sisters Joan Day of Fremont and Sarah Borisch of Grand Rapids Michigan.

Interment will be at Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma.  A memorial celebration is planned for a future date.  Please contact the family for details.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a contribution to Hospice of the Valley in San Jose.