Carol Anne Gillis

In the early morning hours of September 14, Carol Anne died at Littleton Regional Healthcare in the hospice room, which she was instrumental in creating, following a sudden medical emergency.  There and then, she passed on to join her beloved family and adored Samoyeds, who had earlier paved the way to their hereafter reunion.

            Although she was a naturalized U.S. citizen since 1975, you couldn’t take the Canadian out of the girl.  Carol Anne was born to Katheryn Margaret Nicholson Gillis and George Henry Clifford Gillis in 1945 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, where she lived until coming to the States in 1957 and settling in Keene, NH.

            While attending secondary school in Keene, Carol Anne worked part time as a nurse’s aide in Central Supply, preparing, delivering, and inventorying instruments and supplies for both doctors and nurses at Eliot Community Hospital in Keene. After being graduated from Keene High School, Carol Anne prepared for a career in teaching by attending Keene State College, where she received a B.A. in

English and Art in 1968 and a M.Ed. in 1970.  While there she also functioned as a graduate teaching assistant in 1968 before relocating to Littleton, NH, to teach English and Art at Daisy Bronson Junior High School and Littleton High School beginning in 1969.  While teaching in Littleton, she became a class advisor, as well as an advisor for Debating and Future Teachers of America.  In addition, she directed nineteen student theatrical productions.  Just recently, she was pleased to attend the 50th reunion of Littleton High School’s class of 1974.

            From childhood in Canada, Carol Anne was legally blind; however, a trip to Retina Associates in Boston when she was a young adult resulted in a retinitis pigmentosa diagnosis along with a prognosis of total blindness in later adulthood.  After this bleak, devastating picture was painted, Carol Anne yanked up her big girl pants and got on with her life.  As she networked with others afflicted with blindness, she often expressed her admiration for people like the late Gil Vickery of Littleton, who marched gung-ho, fearlessly into physical situations like camping trips.  “I could never do what he does,” she would say; however, she took on other battles that tested her mettle—battles she won.

            Knowing her teaching career would end as her vision loss increased, Carol Anne took time off to attend the Greater Pittsburgh Guild for the Blind in Pittsburgh, PA, and to then attend the University of Pittsburgh, also in Pittsburgh, PA, to study for an M.Ed. in counseling in 1982-1983.  It was during her counseling internships in Pittsburgh, especially one in which she counseled families in the home when she accompanied hospice nurses on home care visits that led directly to her leadership efforts to establish a Littleton area hospice when she returned home.  When her teaching career ended in 1993, she was ready and prepared to transition into private personal counseling as well as group counseling of breast cancer patients and survivors (which she herself would become in later years) and leading bereavement support groups.  As the hospice promotion gained support, she planned and taught training sessions for hospice volunteers, whom she actively recruited.  She spoke extensively to area service organizations about the benefits of hospice care and facilities, remaining active in these efforts from 1983-2003, even publishing a book, ANGELS IN THE NORTH COUNTRY, documenting outstanding caregivers in the region.  After hearing an account of a friend’s neighbor and learning first-hand of others in similar stressful situations, she wanted to help uninsured or underinsured patients pay their medical bills by donating to create the Starfish Fund at Littleton Regional Healthcare.  In the last decade of her life, she lived almost entirely in Keene 2016-2019, dedicating herself to caregiving for her cousin Mildred Babcock Wolfe.

            Carol Anne traveled extensively in the United States, Canada, and Europe.  She was a member of Friday Club, a book group with a long history in the local area.  A person of strong, unshakeable faith, she committed herself to First United Methodist church in Littleton as reflected in her involvement with the church’s choir, its women’s group, and lay preaching occurring there.  She was a member of the Ecumenical Breakfast Group, Heartsong Singers and the Respitality Center founding committee.

            Carol Anne was predeceased by both of her parents, her father in 1972 and her mother in 1980, as well as by numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins residing in both NH and Canada.  Surviving her are cousins Sally Nicholson and Winnie Mackinnon both of Prince Edward Island, Canada; and cousins George and Edison Ross of Trenton, Ontario, Canada.  In addition to family members, Carol Anne left behind lifelong, long-term, and recent friends too numerous to name.

            Following Carol Anne’s wishes, there will be no calling hours.  She will be laid to rest in West Cemetery, Keene, NH, beside her beloved mother.  A memorial service will be held on Friday, September 20th at 11 AM at First United Methodist Church, 18 Main Street, Littleton, NH, with a reception following the service in the church’s Fellowship Hall.  Carol Anne entrusted Ross Funeral Home with all of her final arrangements. In lieu of flowers, anyone wishing to make a memorial donation in Carol Anne’s name is directed to the following: The Starfish Fund at Littleton Regional Healthcare, 600 St. Johnsbury Rd., Littleton, NH 03561, Littleton Food Pantry, 70 Redington Street, Littleton, NH 03561, Second Chance Animal Rescue, 1517 Meadow Street, Littleton, NH,  03561, or the First United Methodist Church, 18 Main Street, Littleton, NH, 03561.

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