Tribe bids goodbye to beloved former Chairman Harry Gilmore
QUAPAW, Okla. – The Quapaws said goodbye to one of their oldest and most respected leaders.
Harry F. Gilmore, chairman of the tribe’s business committee for two terms from 1986 to 1990, died Feb. 14, in Sierra Vista, Ariz., where he had lived for the past 7 years. He was 91.
”This is a sad day for all Quapaws. Harry was someone we loved and looked up to,” said Lloyd Buffalo, a current member of the tribe’s business committee, who also served as vice chairman under Gilmore in the late 1980s.
Gilmore was born Aug. 9, 1916, in Lincolnville, Okla., to Homer and Alice Crawfish Gilmore. Aside from his two terms as chairman, he served in every other capacity in the Quapaw tribal government – as secretary/treasurer, member, and as vice chairman several times. Gilmore served in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II. He worked in the shipyards of Long Beach, Calif. He retired from B.F. Goodrich Tire and Rubber Co. in Miami, Okla., and went on to work for the Intertribal Substance Abuse and Prevention Treatment program as its director for many years.
Gilmore also served as vice chairman of the National Congress of American Indians. After his retirement, he enjoyed boating and fishing on Grand Lake o’ the Cherokees in northeastern Oklahoma.
”He was an important member of our tribe, and we are saddened by this loss. We are like a big family, and Harry was one of our best known leaders because he had been around for as long as anyone can remember. We’re really going to miss him,” said John Berrey, current Chairman of the Tribal Business Committee.
Gilmore is survived by his wife, Julia Chapin Gilmore; sister, Gladys; nephew, Charles Hirsch of Miami, Okla.; and five children, Buddy, Bonnie, Jimmy, Cathy and Vance.
