Patricia A. 'Pete Gillan

Patricia "Pete" Gillan, 86, of Missoula, passed away Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014, at St. Patrick Hospital of natural causes.

She was born May 28, 1927, at the family farm near Poultney, Vt., to Stanislaus and Antonia Pomalaski. As the youngest of six children, she was also the only family member not born in what today is southeastern Poland. She learned how to overcome her small physical presence when she needed to be the largest person in a room, and years of raising three children only reinforced that talent. Most details of her adolescence remain clouded in mystery – perhaps sealed by court order – but it is widely known that she was very forgiving of the adolescent misadventures of her own children without actually admitting to similar follies.

She also learned quickly and well. Without knowing a word of English on her first day of school, she started her second year as a third-grader. Pete left the farm for nurse's training at Cooley Dickinson Hospital, still a year younger than her classmates, and received the highest grade in the state of New York that year on her nursing board exam.

On March 17, 1951, she married the love of her life, James E. Gillan of Albany, N.Y. The fact that she was married on St. Patrick's Day not only foreshadowed his and her passing at St. Patrick Hospital, but provided an anniversary date her Irish-American husband would never forget. Her passion for good food and good beer was doubly served on a day that is a church feast day and civic holiday.

She also had a passion for travel and heeded the advice of her hometown's most famous editor, Horace Greeley, to "move west, young man" (or woman as the case may be) and settled in New York, Delaware and Illinois. She saved the last best place for last and arrived in Missoula in 1984.

Pete, with her late husband, was an avid bridge player – a fact well known to all who knew her. Those who didn't yet know her missed an engaging and compassionate listener who began with a broad smile and a question of how they were doing. Every topic could come up except Pete talking about Pete. She shall also be missed by the flora and fauna of Grant Creek, where the deer and the antelope played – and were subsequently nourished – year-round from her doorstep. Her winged and hoofed companions may well be planning a memorial of their own.

Pete successfully raised three children, all of whom survive her, James Jr., (Seattle), Joseph (Daytona Beach, Fla.) and Jocelyn (Oviedo, Fla.). James and his wife Linda provided Pete with three grandchildren, Anthony, Andre and Anna Marie; while Jocelyn added a grandson, Joey, and Joseph added a granddaughter, Ashley. Apparently, everyone needed to be named with an "A" or a "J."

More than anything, Pete taught each and every one of her children to enjoy life, enjoy each other and never pass on an opportunity to laugh, learn or have a beer. Her favorite saying was a quote from John Lennon: "Life is too short, sometimes you need to stop and take a look around." Or something like that. She also said, "God will close a door and open a window." She will be sorely missed.

Mass will be at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Feb. 21, at St. Francis Xavier Church with burial beside her husband Jim at the Western Montana State Veterans Cemetery immediately afterward. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Pete's name to the St. Francis Xavier Stained Glass Restoration Fund, 420 W. Pine St., Missoula, MT 59802.
Read Patricia Gillan's Obituary and Guestbook on www.missoulafuneralhomes.com.