Archive

Doc Gillies, a ‘force to be reckoned with’, passes at 89

October 6, 2022   ·   0 Comments

By Constance Scrafield

Doc Gillies has left a wonderful legacy in Orangeville. His death on Sept. 22 at the age of 89 was “the end of an era,” said David Nairn, community member and artistic director of Theatre Orangeville.

Mr. Nairn was only one of a long list of people who hold such admiration and even marvel at the talent and determination that Doc Gillies had for improvements to his community of Orangeville.

The first opportunity the Citizen had to speak with someone who knew Doc Gillies well was with David Nairn. “In the life of the theatre he has always been a presence, a force to be reckoned with. He was the first one to reach out to me when I came here as artistic director. He valued the theatre; he put community above all.”

Describing Doc Gillies as a “force of nature who could be formidable presence,” Mr. Nairn attributed the “Dream Factory”, as he calls the dual purpose Community Living Dufferin (CLD) building on Dufferin County Road 3, that’s also used by Theatre Orangeville “would not exist today if it were not for Doc Gillies or would be very different.”

Mr. Nairn told the tale: “He challenged us to talk about the story; he was relentless on bringing that into focus, teaching us how to work a capital campaign. Here we were on a $4 million campaign and that was something Doc knew to his bones.”

Nancy and Doc Gillies opened their homes to actors, like Bobby Prochaska, who stayed often in their home and looked on them as family. They took in lots of actors, who always felt at home.

“Everyone with no exception came to think of Doc and Nancy as family.”

Meanwhile, “he kept our feet to the fire. ‘It’s not good enough,’ he would say. ‘Don’t worry about the building, I can take care of that. Just get your message right.’ He was the driving force of the building because he passionately believed that both CLD and Theatre Orangeville deserved a home that was ours because of what we contributed to the community.”

Always remarkable, “Once we were really able to articulate what we wanted to do, the building went from the drawing on paper to a reality in 18 months.”

All the buildings in Orangeville that he built, all bear his stamp with a cupola.

One of the first exchanges with Doc and Theatre Orangeville was his notice, “You need some signage” and literally overnight one of those these beautiful signs showed up.

“Up it went and nary a word, not a photo recognition,” said Mr. Nairn, “We had a need and Doc Gillies made it happen.”

Nancy Gillies was dedicated to so many charities. Theatre Orangeville seemed to hold a spot in their hearts. Hence it is called the Nancy and Doc Gillies Rehearsal Hall.

Doc Gillies joined the Rotary in 1961 and was President over 1969-70. He was instrumental in creating Rotary Park, originally a landfill in Orangeville, and organized the whole construction of the park, as a fellow Rotarian. 

In due course, once skateboarding became so popular and young people were skate boarding on Broadway and everywhere where signs forbidding it, finally Doc stepped in, saying, “We have to find some place for the kids to do this.” 

Adopting his signature approach to any project, the Centenary Year for Rotary was the perfect moment to create and install a truly wonderful skate board park where the youth could wheel, toss and fly on their skate boards without fear of harm or at least censorship – it was all theirs.

“There just hadn’t been anything like it in the town,” said local business owner and active volunteer, Bob Burnside, in a conversation with the Citizen.

The story about the hospital is huge. Doctors were leaving Orangeville where space became insufficient.

As Economic Development Chairman and Headwaters Healthcare Foundation Chairman, Doc Gillies foraged a way to attract doctors to the community via the model of “if you build it, they will come.”

Following a negotiation over a plot of land beside the hospital, Doc involved other construction companies to create a building that was a collection of individual clinics, inviting them but encased in the invitation was the expectation of generous discounts on the details. Doctors heard about the place and came.

Government funding shifted from health care to educational projects and ever watchful, Doc was involved in creating the library in the old Royal Bank, having obtained grant money for kids’ education for Rotary. He was integral in the renovation of the library on Mill Street. 

Said Mr. Burnside, “Whenever something needed to be done, he came through and got it done. The tourism building [on Buena Vista at Hwy 10], the renovations of Family Transition Place.”

Bob Burnside is doing the eulogy for Doc Gilles and told the Citizen, “I’ve known Doc since about 1969 through Rotary and we’ve been business partners on some things. I worked with him on a number of projects, the Medieval Centre, Youth Drop-In Centre, the trail on Island Lake. He was pretty well key in all of them.”

As Mr. Burnside made it clear, Doc Gillies was the first business developer in the town. He picked projects that needed to be done.

“He was in it right to the hilt; never left anything unfinished and he worked with people that he knew what they could do.”

Interestingly, there is a general consent that the town council listened to him.

“Doc created a lot of projects that never would have happened unless a private person was involved,” Mr. Burnside made clear. “He had a desire to help people and he was a developer on three malls around the town. He developed those places properly.”

As a side note but very instructive, he said, “You’d see him and his father early in the mornings, the two of them, going around, picking up the garbage on the street. He took ownership on just about everything you could see.”

Doc Gillies was there at a time when it was possible to do those projects.

“Wherever he was, there was a lot of laughter and a lot of things getting done. The family has taken over and they have a tradition of working with their tenants,” said Bob Burnside.

He added, “He was a real community buzzer.”

There is a wonderful documentary about Doc Gillies that tells his story and is available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/9jBBl2_8PXs

The Celebration of Life for Doc Gillies is being held today, Oct. 6 at 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. as a drop in at the Best Western Inn and Conference Centre.

Doc Gillies, a ‘force to be reckoned with’, passes at 89

By Constance Scrafield

Doc Gillies has left a wonderful legacy in Orangeville. His death on Sept. 22 at the age of 89 was “the end of an era,” said David Nairn, community member and artistic director of Theatre Orangeville.

Mr. Nairn was only one of a long list of people who hold such admiration and even marvel at the talent and determination that Doc Gillies had for improvements to his community of Orangeville.

The first opportunity the Citizen had to speak with someone who knew Doc Gillies well was with David Nairn. “In the life of the theatre he has always been a presence, a force to be reckoned with. He was the first one to reach out to me when I came here as artistic director. He valued the theatre; he put community above all.”

Describing Doc Gillies as a “force of nature who could be formidable presence,” Mr. Nairn attributed the “Dream Factory”, as he calls the dual purpose Community Living Dufferin (CLD) building on Dufferin County Road 3, that’s also used by Theatre Orangeville “would not exist today if it were not for Doc Gillies or would be very different.”

Mr. Nairn told the tale: “He challenged us to talk about the story; he was relentless on bringing that into focus, teaching us how to work a capital campaign. Here we were on a $4 million campaign and that was something Doc knew to his bones.”

Nancy and Doc Gillies opened their homes to actors, like Bobby Prochaska, who stayed often in their home and looked on them as family. They took in lots of actors, who always felt at home.

“Everyone with no exception came to think of Doc and Nancy as family.”

Meanwhile, “he kept our feet to the fire. ‘It’s not good enough,’ he would say. ‘Don’t worry about the building, I can take care of that. Just get your message right.’ He was the driving force of the building because he passionately believed that both CLD and Theatre Orangeville deserved a home that was ours because of what we contributed to the community.”

Always remarkable, “Once we were really able to articulate what we wanted to do, the building went from the drawing on paper to a reality in 18 months.”

All the buildings in Orangeville that he built, all bear his stamp with a cupola.

One of the first exchanges with Doc and Theatre Orangeville was his notice, “You need some signage” and literally overnight one of those these beautiful signs showed up.

“Up it went and nary a word, not a photo recognition,” said Mr. Nairn, “We had a need and Doc Gillies made it happen.”

Nancy Gillies was dedicated to so many charities. Theatre Orangeville seemed to hold a spot in their hearts. Hence it is called the Nancy and Doc Gillies Rehearsal Hall.

Doc Gillies joined the Rotary in 1961 and was President over 1969-70. He was instrumental in creating Rotary Park, originally a landfill in Orangeville, and organized the whole construction of the park, as a fellow Rotarian. 

In due course, once skateboarding became so popular and young people were skate boarding on Broadway and everywhere where signs forbidding it, finally Doc stepped in, saying, “We have to find some place for the kids to do this.” 

Adopting his signature approach to any project, the Centenary Year for Rotary was the perfect moment to create and install a truly wonderful skate board park where the youth could wheel, toss and fly on their skate boards without fear of harm or at least censorship – it was all theirs.

“There just hadn’t been anything like it in the town,” said local business owner and active volunteer, Bob Burnside, in a conversation with the Citizen.

The story about the hospital is huge. Doctors were leaving Orangeville where space became insufficient.

As Economic Development Chairman and Headwaters Healthcare Foundation Chairman, Doc Gillies foraged a way to attract doctors to the community via the model of “if you build it, they will come.”

Following a negotiation over a plot of land beside the hospital, Doc involved other construction companies to create a building that was a collection of individual clinics, inviting them but encased in the invitation was the expectation of generous discounts on the details. Doctors heard about the place and came.

Government funding shifted from health care to educational projects and ever watchful, Doc was involved in creating the library in the old Royal Bank, having obtained grant money for kids’ education for Rotary. He was integral in the renovation of the library on Mill Street. 

Said Mr. Burnside, “Whenever something needed to be done, he came through and got it done. The tourism building [on Buena Vista at Hwy 10], the renovations of Family Transition Place.”

Bob Burnside is doing the eulogy for Doc Gilles and told the Citizen, “I’ve known Doc since about 1969 through Rotary and we’ve been business partners on some things. I worked with him on a number of projects, the Medieval Centre, Youth Drop-In Centre, the trail on Island Lake. He was pretty well key in all of them.”

As Mr. Burnside made it clear, Doc Gillies was the first business developer in the town. He picked projects that needed to be done.

“He was in it right to the hilt; never left anything unfinished and he worked with people that he knew what they could do.”

Interestingly, there is a general consent that the town council listened to him.

“Doc created a lot of projects that never would have happened unless a private person was involved,” Mr. Burnside made clear. “He had a desire to help people and he was a developer on three malls around the town. He developed those places properly.”

As a side note but very instructive, he said, “You’d see him and his father early in the mornings, the two of them, going around, picking up the garbage on the street. He took ownership on just about everything you could see.”

Doc Gillies was there at a time when it was possible to do those projects.

“Wherever he was, there was a lot of laughter and a lot of things getting done. The family has taken over and they have a tradition of working with their tenants,” said Bob Burnside.

He added, “He was a real community buzzer.”

There is a wonderful documentary about Doc Gillies that tells his story and is available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/9jBBl2_8PXs

The Celebration of Life for Doc Gillies is being held today, Oct. 6 at 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. as a drop in at the Best Western Inn and Conference Centre.

Readers Comments (0)