Vivian Gilmore

Vivian Irenea Hall Gilmore, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, passed away on April 4, 2009, at the age of 101. Vivian was born in Albany, Oregon, on November 30, 1907. She was the oldest of six children of Edgar and Salin Truax Hall. When her father died in 1919, Vivian was sent to Corvallis to be a live-in "nanny" for the Klein family, who subsequently helped her go to the Corvallis Hospital Nursing College, from which she graduated, and after surgical training at San Francisco General Hospital became head surgical nurse at the Corvallis hospital at age 21. After marrying Carl Gilmore, a graduate of Oregon State University, in August 1930, she moved with him to Redding, California, where she continued her nursing career until she purchased a women's apparel store (Vivian's), for which she was the owner/manager/accountant/alterations/buyer for 25 years. Carl was Athletic Director at Shasta Union High School, and later at Shasta Junior College. Vivian and her husband were avid skiers and fitness buffs, and Vivian also was a competive bowler, and sponsored and played on a women's team until age 90. She and Carl were retired in Menlo Park, Sunnyvale, and San Jose, California. Vivian was preceded in death by all of her younger siblings and by her husband Carl in 2002, and moved to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, in March 2008 to live with her son and his wife. She is survived by son, John, of Jackson Hole, daughter Glenda Strombom, of Mountain View, California, six grandchildren, and 21 great grandchildren. A private memorial service was held at the hospital in Jackson Hole, and no other services will be held. The ashes of Vivian and husband Carl will be interred in the cemetery in Elgin, Oregon. Any memorial contributions may be sent to a charity of choice.

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