Don Gilman, age 88, died on November 16, 2012, at Clarksville Nursing and Rehab Center, after an extended illness. Don, a former resident at Fieldstone Place, Clarksville, was a lifelong New Yorker. At retirement he relocated to Tennessee to be with his brother and wife, Gerry and Jane.
The family will receive friends from 3-5 p.m. on Saturday, November 24, 2012 at Neal-Tarpley-Parchman Funeral Home. After cremation, a private family interment will occur at a later date.
Don was born on March 16, 1924 in Boston, MA. His parents, the illustrators, Edward R. and Dorothy Slaton Gilman, moved the family to New York City in 1936. In WWII, Don was a war-artist on the staff of Gen. Douglas MacArthur's HQ, in the South Pacific campaigns. Returning to New York, Don became a stage designer for Broadway musicals by Rogers and Hammerstein. In live television, Don was production designer for "Playhouse 90," "Philco," "Firestone Theater," "Bell Telephone Hour," "Your Hit Parade," and others. After working as art director for television series, such as "The Sgt. Bilko Show," and other CBS productions, Don continued doing sets for TV commercials for another thirty years. There were movies and industrial films, sets and locations, that Don designed.
Don taught at The Cooper Union, McCarter Theater in Princeton, Ivoryton Playhouse, Conn., Catholic University, D.C., Art Students League, Parsons New School, and the School of Visual Arts, in New York. Don received his architecture degree in 1982, joining the American Institute of Architects and commissions for passive solar energy structures were completed. Membership in United Scenic Artists, the Institute of Interior Design, and other professional organizations are among his credits. Devotion to illustration, music, photography, art history, the earth sciences, were Don's special interests. He was a Unitarian-Universalist.
Donations of remembrance may be made to www.arborday.org/giveatree fund. Arrangemenst entrusted to Neal-Tarpley-Parchman Funeral Home, 1510 Madison Street, Clarksville, TN 37040. Online condolences may be made at www.neal-tarpley.com.