Jack Gilroy

John Francis “Jack” Gilroy Jr., age 95, died on July 30 in the care of the E.T. York Haven Hospice, Gainesville, Florida, with his loving wife of 21 years, Eileen, by his side. Throughout his final week, after suffering a major stroke at home, he was surrounded by family and friends. Through months of health challenges and up to his last days, he remained characteristically optimistic, curious, wry, and always eager to spend time with those he loved.

Jack was born May 9, 1931, in Exeter, Pennsylvania, the son of John F. Sr. and Mary (Walsh) Gilroy. After graduating from Exeter High School, he enlisted in the US Air Force, serving exactly – as he often noted – “2 years, 7 months, and 17 days”. On Feb. 14, 1953, he married Angela Marie Blandina of Pittston and took her to begin their marriage in USAF base housing in Mesa, Arizona before returning to start a family in Wyoming, Pennsylvania.

Jack and Angela raised three children, Anne Elizabeth, John Francis III, and Mary Katherine, relocating from the Susquehanna Valley to the city of Pittsburgh in 1963, and subsequently to Atlanta, Georgia, before finally settling in Gainesville in 1981. After 48 years of marriage, his wife Angela died in November 2001, at age 69. Jack was also predeceased by daughter-in-law Sarah Brinkhoff Gilroy (John) and a son-in-law Gregory Nelson (Anne).

Jack was the youngest and the last surviving of seven siblings of a very Irish family – Agnes (O’Hara), Joseph, Regina (Newcomb), Romayne (Brislin), Edmund, and Helen (Sr. Ellenita, IHM). He took great pride in dedicating himself to a traditional role as provider to his family and held a variety of jobs in the coal-mining Susquehanna valley: driving a delivery truck as a ‘milkman’, driving a coal truck, even a stint in a shoe store in trade for shoes for his children. He strove always to improve his situation and that of his family, finishing night school with a B.A. from Kings College and securing a job as a traveling salesman. Jack’s career as a super salesman, aka ‘Sultan of Sales’, began and ended with Avery Label Company, Monrovia, California starting in 1963. Jack followed Avery from when “Mr. Avery” was running meetings through their rise to a Fortune 500 company by 1976. Jack remained with Avery for over 45 years and became an award-winning star salesman, manager, and mentor.

In 2005, Jack married real estate professional Eileen (Petty) Arndt of High Springs, Florida. For the next two decades, Jack and Eileen were inseparable partners, companions, and each other’s biggest fan.

Jack will be missed by the children of his and Eileen’s combined family: Eileen’s son Jason Arndt and wife Theresa, Jack’s daughter Anne Gilroy and husband Mark Lewis, his son John Gilroy III, and his daughter Mary Katherine ‘Kati” Riek and husband Ken Riek, as well as Eileen’s extended family members Patti and Jeff Moser, their daughter Stephanie and husband Kyle, and their son AJ and wife Chelsea. Jack leaves behind eleven grandchildren who will miss him – Caitlin, Angela, Ben, Christopher, Adam, Andie, Donald, Molly, Shawn, Amy and Jenn, as well as their spouses and partners. He will especially be missed by the generation of young children who know him as their great-grandfather: Sorcha, Elena, Nova, Luke, Eleanor, Roux, Millie, Ashton, Logan, and Elliot.

Jack was perpetually curious about every person he encountered and truly never met a stranger. He made an art of inquiring about and finding commonality with each person he met. The sense of humor and wit honed during his “misspent youth” hovering around Pittston pool halls served to make him at home in any room, anywhere. He was the last person to leave any party but always cherished most the time with family and extended family, especially if there was a beach or swimming pool in the picture, which never failed to bring out the kid in him.

There will be no funeral. In lieu of a final resting place, Jack chose to be an anatomical donor after death. In accordance with his wishes, his body was dispatched to the University of Florida College of Medicine for the education of medical students. His family suggests that gifts in his memory can be made to the Haven Foundation, directed to the E.T. York Haven Hospice Care Center of Gainesville, Florida: https://havenhospice.com/donate