Donald R. Gillies
Donald R. Gillies of Goleta passed away peacefully from late stage dementia the morning of Oct. 28, 2026. Born on January 1, 1935 in Oakland, California to Robert Hamilton Gillies and Marjorie (Frank) Gillies. His mother’s family had been in California since 1860. With Don’s intelligence and hard work he got into UC Berkeley and became the first in his family to attend a university. At Yuba City High School he was a top student and a mediocre center for the Honkers football team (where he broke his wrist which bothered him for many years).
He was a Bowles Hall resident all 4 years. He majored in pre-med, and was accepted into UCSF medical school in a program where senior year at Cal was 1st year of medical school and thus was the youngest member of his med school class. After graduation in 1959, he drove across the country to start his internship at Detroit Receiving Hospital. After residency he was obligated to start military service, where he chose to join the Navy. He was stationed in Okinawa where he was a Navy doctor for the Marines. He was able to visit several Asian countries and thus began a love of world travel. Then his 2nd tour of peace time military duty was in Treasure Island.
He was released from the Navy in 1962. He had been accepted for residency at UCLA Medical Center for Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery. But this would not start until 1963, so he moved back to the Yuba City/Marysville area to work at Sutter County Hospital. He met a nurse, Claudie, from France who was on a long vacation in the United States to visit friends. One of her friends happened to be married to a doctor who had moved to Yuba City, and they got Claudie a nursing job at the hospital. She was planning on returning to France, but Don proposed to her, and they were married in his parents’ home and then honeymooned in France. They moved to Los Angeles, where he began his residency, and their daughter Noelle was born at UCLA Medical Center in 1964. They moved to Santa Barbara in 1967 when he joined the ENT practice of the late Dr. Walter Martin. Later he started a solo practice where he had an office in the Goleta Valley Medical Building until 2000. Don treated his patients with compassion and skill, whether they had Medical or Medicare or were underinsured. As a doctor he believed it was his duty to treat all patients who sought his help and that everyone deserved good medical care. He volunteered on medical trips with Aero Medicos to rural Mexico. He also volunteered for a stop smoking class in the 1980s where he helped many people quit smoking.
When Don retired from medicine on his birthday on 1/1/2000, he decided to do the things he wanted to do growing up and as a young man which were:
1) With his 2nd wife, Gail, married on 1/19/91, over the years they traveled the world including many exotic places.
2) Took up amateur car racing 1st in a red Ferrari co-owning it with his friend, Art Ludwig, and racing at several race tracks including Laguna Seca and later raced in his BMW M3.
3) Became a Volunteer for several nature organizations (nature being his religion) such as the SB Botanic Garden, Arroyo Hondo Nature Preserve, and the Channel Islands Naturalist Corps.
4) He also continued as an excellent advanced downhill skier well into his mid-eighties.
A Celebration of Life will be held in the Clubhouse of Encina Royale at 250 Moreton Bay Lane in Goleta on Sat. 11/14/26 from 5-7:30 PM. Donations may be made to: the Alzheimer’s Association, SB Botanic Garden, or SB Museum of Natural History.
