Ronald Lee Gillum

Ronald (Ron) Lee Gillum, born February 7, 1938, in Decatur, Illinois, passed away September 23, 2024.

Ron met his future wife, Elizabeth (Lis) Feigel while attending DePauw University. Following graduation, Ron and Lis married on December 27, 1960, and moved to Chicago where he graduated from the University of Illinois College of Medicine-Chicago. 

He was preceded in death by his eternal wife of 124 years (62 years for Ron and 62 years for Lis), his parents, John William and Zelma Fern Wonderlin, and his brothers and sister; Merrill Jack, Ila Jean, Richard Wayne, and Daryl Dean Gillum. 

Ron is survived by his children; Colonel (Ret.) David Gillum and wife Debra Japzon Gillum, Ph.D. of Tennessee; Paul Gillum and wife Rebecca of Oklahoma; and daughter Kathleen (Kathie) Smith and husband Eric of Arizona, and bonus (and favorite) son Dusty Olson, and twelve grandchildren.

Ron supported and loved his family in homes across the nation and around the world. Ron’s service to the community, the nation, and God included service as a Major in the United States Army, Director of Pathology at the Veterans Administration (VAMC), Professor at the University of Oklahoma Medical School, Chief of Clinical Pathology at the University hospitals (Children’s and OMC/University, OUHSC/DVAMC), and various positions at multiple levels within his church congregations including a service mission with his beloved wife. 

Services with military honors will be held Saturday, September 28 at the Norman LDS Stake Center, 1506 West Imhoff Road, Norman. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Assistance League of Norman, https://www.assistanceleague.org/norman/