Graveside services were held Saturday, September 18, 2010, in Memory Lane Cemetery in Anadarko, Oklahoma.
Claude "Wilbur" Gillett was born on June 24, 1916 in Fort Thompson, South Dakota to Claude Wallace Gillett and Mae Emily McNutt Gillett.
He came to Anadarko, Oklahoma with his family in 1920, when he was four years old and graduated from Anadarko High School with the Class of 1934.
Wilbur graduated from Central State College, now the University of Central Oklahoma, with a B.A. degree in public school music in 1938, and with a Master's degree in Music Education/Voice in 1939.
He joined the U.S. Army, serving as a Chaplin, for forty-five months during WW II with thirty-eight of those months being overseas in the South Pacific.
Following his military service he taught in the Anadarko Public Schools for five and half years.
He came to Chickasha in 1951, and had taught Music in the Chickasha Public Schools for twenty-five years, retiring in 1976 due to illness.
Wilbur did post-graduate work at the University of Kansas during the summers of 1948-1951. He studied with Forrest West, F. Melius Christiansen, Morton Luvass, Peter Tkach and most notably with Noble Cain.
His close association with Cain afforded him the opportunity to assist in a number of choral clinics and music festivals throughout the United States.
Wilbur became a Christian at an early age. He was a member of the First Christian Church of Chickasha and in later years attended Faith Baptist Church.
He composed and published several choral arrangements, notably "The Gate of the Year," and wrote many poems which he shared with those he loved.
He was preceded in death by both parents and one brother, Truman Gillett.
Wilbur was survived by two brothers and sister-in-law; M.E. "Pete" and Thelma Gillett, of Tulsa, E.C. "Ike" Gillett, of Newton, Kansas, two nephews; Mike and Mark Gillett, two nieces; Patricia Stapp and Emily Medders; many great nieces and nephews and a host of friends.
Claude "Wilbur" Gillett was born on June 24, 1916 in Fort Thompson, South Dakota to Claude Wallace Gillett and Mae Emily McNutt Gillett.
He came to Anadarko, Oklahoma with his family in 1920, when he was four years old and graduated from Anadarko High School with the Class of 1934.
Wilbur graduated from Central State College, now the University of Central Oklahoma, with a B.A. degree in public school music in 1938, and with a Master's degree in Music Education/Voice in 1939.
He joined the U.S. Army, serving as a Chaplin, for forty-five months during WW II with thirty-eight of those months being overseas in the South Pacific.
Following his military service he taught in the Anadarko Public Schools for five and half years.
He came to Chickasha in 1951, and had taught Music in the Chickasha Public Schools for twenty-five years, retiring in 1976 due to illness.
Wilbur did post-graduate work at the University of Kansas during the summers of 1948-1951. He studied with Forrest West, F. Melius Christiansen, Morton Luvass, Peter Tkach and most notably with Noble Cain.
His close association with Cain afforded him the opportunity to assist in a number of choral clinics and music festivals throughout the United States.
Wilbur became a Christian at an early age. He was a member of the First Christian Church of Chickasha and in later years attended Faith Baptist Church.
He composed and published several choral arrangements, notably "The Gate of the Year," and wrote many poems which he shared with those he loved.
He was preceded in death by both parents and one brother, Truman Gillett.
Wilbur was survived by two brothers and sister-in-law; M.E. "Pete" and Thelma Gillett, of Tulsa, E.C. "Ike" Gillett, of Newton, Kansas, two nephews; Mike and Mark Gillett, two nieces; Patricia Stapp and Emily Medders; many great nieces and nephews and a host of friends.
Graveside services were held Saturday, September 18, 2010, in Memory Lane Cemetery in Anadarko, Oklahoma.
Claude "Wilbur" Gillett was born on June 24, 1916 in Fort Thompson, South Dakota to Claude Wallace Gillett and Mae Emily McNutt Gillett.
He came to Anadarko, Oklahoma with his family in 1920, when he was four years old and graduated from Anadarko High School with the Class of 1934.
Wilbur graduated from Central State College, now the University of Central Oklahoma, with a B.A. degree in public school music in 1938, and with a Master's degree in Music Education/Voice in 1939.
He joined the U.S. Army, serving as a Chaplin, for forty-five months during WW II with thirty-eight of those months being overseas in the South Pacific.
Following his military service he taught in the Anadarko Public Schools for five and half years.
He came to Chickasha in 1951, and had taught Music in the Chickasha Public Schools for twenty-five years, retiring in 1976 due to illness.
Wilbur did post-graduate work at the University of Kansas during the summers of 1948-1951. He studied with Forrest West, F. Melius Christiansen, Morton Luvass, Peter Tkach and most notably with Noble Cain.
His close association with Cain afforded him the opportunity to assist in a number of choral clinics and music festivals throughout the United States.
Wilbur became a Christian at an early age. He was a member of the First Christian Church of Chickasha and in later years attended Faith Baptist Church.
He composed and published several choral arrangements, notably "The Gate of the Year," and wrote many poems which he shared with those he loved.
He was preceded in death by both parents and one brother, Truman Gillett.
Wilbur was survived by two brothers and sister-in-law; M.E. "Pete" and Thelma Gillett, of Tulsa, E.C. "Ike" Gillett, of Newton, Kansas, two nephews; Mike and Mark Gillett, two nieces; Patricia Stapp and Emily Medders; many great nieces and nephews and a host of friends.
Claude "Wilbur" Gillett was born on June 24, 1916 in Fort Thompson, South Dakota to Claude Wallace Gillett and Mae Emily McNutt Gillett.
He came to Anadarko, Oklahoma with his family in 1920, when he was four years old and graduated from Anadarko High School with the Class of 1934.
Wilbur graduated from Central State College, now the University of Central Oklahoma, with a B.A. degree in public school music in 1938, and with a Master's degree in Music Education/Voice in 1939.
He joined the U.S. Army, serving as a Chaplin, for forty-five months during WW II with thirty-eight of those months being overseas in the South Pacific.
Following his military service he taught in the Anadarko Public Schools for five and half years.
He came to Chickasha in 1951, and had taught Music in the Chickasha Public Schools for twenty-five years, retiring in 1976 due to illness.
Wilbur did post-graduate work at the University of Kansas during the summers of 1948-1951. He studied with Forrest West, F. Melius Christiansen, Morton Luvass, Peter Tkach and most notably with Noble Cain.
His close association with Cain afforded him the opportunity to assist in a number of choral clinics and music festivals throughout the United States.
Wilbur became a Christian at an early age. He was a member of the First Christian Church of Chickasha and in later years attended Faith Baptist Church.
He composed and published several choral arrangements, notably "The Gate of the Year," and wrote many poems which he shared with those he loved.
He was preceded in death by both parents and one brother, Truman Gillett.
Wilbur was survived by two brothers and sister-in-law; M.E. "Pete" and Thelma Gillett, of Tulsa, E.C. "Ike" Gillett, of Newton, Kansas, two nephews; Mike and Mark Gillett, two nieces; Patricia Stapp and Emily Medders; many great nieces and nephews and a host of friends.
