Born in Philadelphia, PA on May 15, 1912. His great, great grandfather was born in Inverness, Scotland. The family migrated to Ontario, Canada. His father was born in Ontario, Canada. His family immigrated from Canada to Bayonne, NJ. His father, Donald MacGillis served in the Spanish-American War. His family moved to Hazelton, PA while he was still very young. That is where his sister, Anne was born. His father, an engineer, got a job at King's Ranch at the Mexican border in Texas to build an ice manufacturing plant for meat storage. Family moved to Texas for a while then back to Hazelton, this time to the older section on the north side.
As a boy, his job was washing dishes. When his sister, Anne, was old enough, she would dry. They drove a Studebaker touring car, 4 door with a 6 cylinder engine, that they had won in a church raffle for $1.00. "Pop" (David MacGillis) remembers a trip in the Studebaker driving around Hazelton to take a picnic. They were in the upper region of the Susquehanna River. His mother was driving and the car didn't make a turn and rolled down a bank. Pop was thrown out of the car. Nobody was hurt but the car had some body damage that they had to get fixed.
They moved from Hazelton to Miami in the late depression years. His mother and brother drove down since his father was already in Miami on an engineering job. He remembers getting down to Deerfield Beach and having to wait a couple of hours for a ferry to take them across the sound to continue to Miami. Pop went to the new Ada Merritt Jr. High School. When he did something he wasn't supposed to do, he and others on detention, had to spend study hour picking up rocks from the school yard so that they could plant grass. He started Miami Senior High School and went there two years. He said the teachers all talked about his older brother, "Bud" who was such a good student. Pop said that he did only what he had to do to get by, so the teachers were always comparing him to his older brother.
He moved to Jacksonville 2 times from Miami - during WWI his father built a training camp at Camp Fowler. The family moved to Jacksonville, FL for his last two years of high school. He attended and graduated from Andrew Jackson High School. His sister Anne, who was four years younger, attended John Gohrie Jr. High School and went to a different senior high in Jacksonville from Pop.
Pop went to the University of Florida in 1935-36, where he studied engineering. His best friend from Jacksonville, Joe Jenkins, played football at UF. During a Christmas break, Pop went to Miami to visit Joe's parents who had moved there. At a party, he met his future wife, Edna Berry, who was best friends with Joe's girl friend and later wife, Janet. Pop married Edna on September 4, 1936 and left school to work with Southern Bell telephone company in Miami in June 1936 with Joe and Janet as Best Man and Maid of Honor. (They were Best Man and Maid of honor at Joe and Janet's wedding. Pop worked for Southern Bell until 1975 when he retired.
Pop and Edna had two children, Verna and David, who both went to UF and later married and had children. Pop moved from Miami to Orlando, Sanford (where he founded the Sanford Boat and Ski Club, founded and President of the St. Johns River Marathon Racing Association, President of the Seminole High School Boosters Association), Key Largo, and Tallahassee, Florida. He enjoyed boating, fishing, assisting with the school activities of his children. He died at the home of his son in Tallahassee on April 18, 2006. He will be remembered for his gentle, humorous, helpful, caring, intelligent, capable and thoughtful approach to relationships and life.
As a boy, his job was washing dishes. When his sister, Anne, was old enough, she would dry. They drove a Studebaker touring car, 4 door with a 6 cylinder engine, that they had won in a church raffle for $1.00. "Pop" (David MacGillis) remembers a trip in the Studebaker driving around Hazelton to take a picnic. They were in the upper region of the Susquehanna River. His mother was driving and the car didn't make a turn and rolled down a bank. Pop was thrown out of the car. Nobody was hurt but the car had some body damage that they had to get fixed.
They moved from Hazelton to Miami in the late depression years. His mother and brother drove down since his father was already in Miami on an engineering job. He remembers getting down to Deerfield Beach and having to wait a couple of hours for a ferry to take them across the sound to continue to Miami. Pop went to the new Ada Merritt Jr. High School. When he did something he wasn't supposed to do, he and others on detention, had to spend study hour picking up rocks from the school yard so that they could plant grass. He started Miami Senior High School and went there two years. He said the teachers all talked about his older brother, "Bud" who was such a good student. Pop said that he did only what he had to do to get by, so the teachers were always comparing him to his older brother.
He moved to Jacksonville 2 times from Miami - during WWI his father built a training camp at Camp Fowler. The family moved to Jacksonville, FL for his last two years of high school. He attended and graduated from Andrew Jackson High School. His sister Anne, who was four years younger, attended John Gohrie Jr. High School and went to a different senior high in Jacksonville from Pop.
Pop went to the University of Florida in 1935-36, where he studied engineering. His best friend from Jacksonville, Joe Jenkins, played football at UF. During a Christmas break, Pop went to Miami to visit Joe's parents who had moved there. At a party, he met his future wife, Edna Berry, who was best friends with Joe's girl friend and later wife, Janet. Pop married Edna on September 4, 1936 and left school to work with Southern Bell telephone company in Miami in June 1936 with Joe and Janet as Best Man and Maid of Honor. (They were Best Man and Maid of honor at Joe and Janet's wedding. Pop worked for Southern Bell until 1975 when he retired.
Pop and Edna had two children, Verna and David, who both went to UF and later married and had children. Pop moved from Miami to Orlando, Sanford (where he founded the Sanford Boat and Ski Club, founded and President of the St. Johns River Marathon Racing Association, President of the Seminole High School Boosters Association), Key Largo, and Tallahassee, Florida. He enjoyed boating, fishing, assisting with the school activities of his children. He died at the home of his son in Tallahassee on April 18, 2006. He will be remembered for his gentle, humorous, helpful, caring, intelligent, capable and thoughtful approach to relationships and life.
Born in Philadelphia, PA on May 15, 1912. His great, great grandfather was born in Inverness, Scotland. The family migrated to Ontario, Canada. His father was born in Ontario, Canada. His family immigrated from Canada to Bayonne, NJ. His father, Donald MacGillis served in the Spanish-American War. His family moved to Hazelton, PA while he was still very young. That is where his sister, Anne was born. His father, an engineer, got a job at King's Ranch at the Mexican border in Texas to build an ice manufacturing plant for meat storage. Family moved to Texas for a while then back to Hazelton, this time to the older section on the north side.
As a boy, his job was washing dishes. When his sister, Anne, was old enough, she would dry. They drove a Studebaker touring car, 4 door with a 6 cylinder engine, that they had won in a church raffle for $1.00. "Pop" (David MacGillis) remembers a trip in the Studebaker driving around Hazelton to take a picnic. They were in the upper region of the Susquehanna River. His mother was driving and the car didn't make a turn and rolled down a bank. Pop was thrown out of the car. Nobody was hurt but the car had some body damage that they had to get fixed.
They moved from Hazelton to Miami in the late depression years. His mother and brother drove down since his father was already in Miami on an engineering job. He remembers getting down to Deerfield Beach and having to wait a couple of hours for a ferry to take them across the sound to continue to Miami. Pop went to the new Ada Merritt Jr. High School. When he did something he wasn't supposed to do, he and others on detention, had to spend study hour picking up rocks from the school yard so that they could plant grass. He started Miami Senior High School and went there two years. He said the teachers all talked about his older brother, "Bud" who was such a good student. Pop said that he did only what he had to do to get by, so the teachers were always comparing him to his older brother.
He moved to Jacksonville 2 times from Miami - during WWI his father built a training camp at Camp Fowler. The family moved to Jacksonville, FL for his last two years of high school. He attended and graduated from Andrew Jackson High School. His sister Anne, who was four years younger, attended John Gohrie Jr. High School and went to a different senior high in Jacksonville from Pop.
Pop went to the University of Florida in 1935-36, where he studied engineering. His best friend from Jacksonville, Joe Jenkins, played football at UF. During a Christmas break, Pop went to Miami to visit Joe's parents who had moved there. At a party, he met his future wife, Edna Berry, who was best friends with Joe's girl friend and later wife, Janet. Pop married Edna on September 4, 1936 and left school to work with Southern Bell telephone company in Miami in June 1936 with Joe and Janet as Best Man and Maid of Honor. (They were Best Man and Maid of honor at Joe and Janet's wedding. Pop worked for Southern Bell until 1975 when he retired.
Pop and Edna had two children, Verna and David, who both went to UF and later married and had children. Pop moved from Miami to Orlando, Sanford (where he founded the Sanford Boat and Ski Club, founded and President of the St. Johns River Marathon Racing Association, President of the Seminole High School Boosters Association), Key Largo, and Tallahassee, Florida. He enjoyed boating, fishing, assisting with the school activities of his children. He died at the home of his son in Tallahassee on April 18, 2006. He will be remembered for his gentle, humorous, helpful, caring, intelligent, capable and thoughtful approach to relationships and life.
As a boy, his job was washing dishes. When his sister, Anne, was old enough, she would dry. They drove a Studebaker touring car, 4 door with a 6 cylinder engine, that they had won in a church raffle for $1.00. "Pop" (David MacGillis) remembers a trip in the Studebaker driving around Hazelton to take a picnic. They were in the upper region of the Susquehanna River. His mother was driving and the car didn't make a turn and rolled down a bank. Pop was thrown out of the car. Nobody was hurt but the car had some body damage that they had to get fixed.
They moved from Hazelton to Miami in the late depression years. His mother and brother drove down since his father was already in Miami on an engineering job. He remembers getting down to Deerfield Beach and having to wait a couple of hours for a ferry to take them across the sound to continue to Miami. Pop went to the new Ada Merritt Jr. High School. When he did something he wasn't supposed to do, he and others on detention, had to spend study hour picking up rocks from the school yard so that they could plant grass. He started Miami Senior High School and went there two years. He said the teachers all talked about his older brother, "Bud" who was such a good student. Pop said that he did only what he had to do to get by, so the teachers were always comparing him to his older brother.
He moved to Jacksonville 2 times from Miami - during WWI his father built a training camp at Camp Fowler. The family moved to Jacksonville, FL for his last two years of high school. He attended and graduated from Andrew Jackson High School. His sister Anne, who was four years younger, attended John Gohrie Jr. High School and went to a different senior high in Jacksonville from Pop.
Pop went to the University of Florida in 1935-36, where he studied engineering. His best friend from Jacksonville, Joe Jenkins, played football at UF. During a Christmas break, Pop went to Miami to visit Joe's parents who had moved there. At a party, he met his future wife, Edna Berry, who was best friends with Joe's girl friend and later wife, Janet. Pop married Edna on September 4, 1936 and left school to work with Southern Bell telephone company in Miami in June 1936 with Joe and Janet as Best Man and Maid of Honor. (They were Best Man and Maid of honor at Joe and Janet's wedding. Pop worked for Southern Bell until 1975 when he retired.
Pop and Edna had two children, Verna and David, who both went to UF and later married and had children. Pop moved from Miami to Orlando, Sanford (where he founded the Sanford Boat and Ski Club, founded and President of the St. Johns River Marathon Racing Association, President of the Seminole High School Boosters Association), Key Largo, and Tallahassee, Florida. He enjoyed boating, fishing, assisting with the school activities of his children. He died at the home of his son in Tallahassee on April 18, 2006. He will be remembered for his gentle, humorous, helpful, caring, intelligent, capable and thoughtful approach to relationships and life.
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