Raymond Bruce Gilliland

Raymond Bruce Gilliland, 98, of Kimball, died at his home in Kimball on Tuesday, July 26, 2016. Celebration of Life Services will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, August 2, 2016 at the Cantrell Funeral Home in Kimball with Pastor Christine Plantz officiating. Private family burial will be held. Friends may call at the funeral home on Monday from 1:00 until 5:00 p.m. to sign the register book and leave condolences for the family. Friends may also visit http://www.cantrellfh.com to view Bruce's Tribute Wall and leave condolences and stories of Bruce for the family. Memorials may be given in Bruce's memory to the Kimball City and County Park and Recreation Board. The services for Bruce have been entrusted to the Cantrell Funeral Home.

Raymond Bruce Gilliland was born in Collinsville, Oklahoma on September 26, 1917, the son of Hugh and Cora (Davis) Gilliland. He was raised and attended school in Collinsville, Oklahoma. Bruce graduated from high school in 1935. He attended Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State University) in Stillwater, Oklahoma. This was during the Great Depression and he had to attended school for one semester and then work for a semester so he had the money needed to pay for his education. He continued this until he received his Civil Engineering degree. After graduating with his degree, Bruce worked for the Texas Company in Illinois in oil production. He met and married Wilma Hawkins on October 14, 1944 in Salem, Illinois. He worked for the Holdren Company as an engineer, helping build the infrastructure of a growing country. Bruce then worked for Flint Construction in Oklahoma before moving to Kimball in 1950. Bruce and Wilma started Plains Well Service Co. which later became Plains Construction Co., focusing on pipeline construction in Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana, Colorado and Kansas. Bruce sold the business and retired in 1976. While in business, he was responsible for founding the Rocky Mountain Pipeline Contractors Protective Association which later became the national-wide American Pipeline Contractors Association. Bruce served on the Kimball Public Schools Board of Education from 1956-1958. He served on the Kimball City and County Park and Recreation Board from its inception in 1965 to 2014 as Treasurer and Director of Golf. He was instrumental in the design and construction of the Four Winds Golf Course in Kimball which opened in 1969. In 2012 he was inducted into the Nebraska Golf Hall of Fame for his contributions to the sport of golf. When he was not building pipelines or playing golf, he enjoyed painting, writing Western history novels, calligraphy and following the Denver Broncos.

Survivors include his wife Wilma Gilliland of Kimball, NE; son Stephen Gilliland of Kimball, NE; nephews Charles (Ann) Gilliland of Paris, TX., Mike (Penny) Sheehan of Collinsville, OK., Phil (Polly) Sheehan of Macon, GA., and Steve (Lauren) Sheehan of Issaquah, WA. He was preceded in death by his parents, brother Hugh Gilliland and sister Eva Jo Sheehan.