Roland Robert Gilmore

December 21. 1951 - February 23, 2022

Roland R. Gilmore died on February 23, 2022, after prolonged multiple illnesses at the age of 70.

Roland is survived by his son Corey, former wife Marilyn Doucette (mother of his son Corey), and his longtime friend and in-home health care provider of many years, Mary (Marique) Travis, and many cousins, nieces and nephews.

Roland was predeceased by his father, Floyd Gilmore, and his mother, Helen Longe Gilmore and aunts and uncles.

Roland was born December 21, 1951, in Portland, Maine to Helen Gilmore and Floyd Gilmore. He was an only child.

Roland attended Portland Maine schools from kindergarten to high school. He graduated from Deering High School in 1970. He made many lifelong friends whom he kept in touch with over the years. He has always been known for his quirky and sometimes acerbic sense of humor. He had a joke for every occasion and a quick wit and some of his jokes were real groaners. He had nicknames, Roley, Gil and Rolly.

Roland worked for the City of Portland Maine Public Works Vehicle Maintainance Department as mechanic and the foreman for 25 years. He attended SMVTC (Southern Maine Vocational Technical College) to learn his trade. He retired after 25 years from his City of Portland job. He pursued his dream of traveling and camping. He bought a 32 foot long travel trailer and traveled to many campgrounds in New England. He had a passion for camping all his life and he and his wife and son went camping often. They camped in tents. Roland always overpacked and brought all the conveniences of home. When he bought the camper, he found it easier to go camping as it already had the conveniences of home already in it and it was nice to not sleep on the hard ground. He went camping growning up with the scouts and loved it and camping was a passion throughout his life. One summer after he bought the camper, he worked at a KOA campground in New Hampshire as a grounds keeper and truly enjoyed it but was sadly laid off as the owners were having a bad season.

Roland had many hobbies and interests. He enjoyed being active with his son, taking him camping and other family activities. He was an avid Dr. Who fan and collected all of the Dr. Who movies and episodes and many Dr. Who collectables.  He was continuously adding to his collections which became massive. He also had extensive collections of British mysteries such as Inspector Morse and Agatha Christie's "Poirot" series. He also loved building furniture and had a garage full of woodworking tools and woodworking plans as well as many auto repair tools because he loved working on cars. He had a passion for cooking and made many complicated and delicious gourmet meals. His father was cheif and he followed in his footsteps loving gourmet foods and preparing them. He always left the kitchen a mess after he cooked but it tasted so good that that it did not matter. He loved his two dogs so much, rescued dogs from Hurricane Irma. They were so precious to him and were his "babies."  Their names are Xena and Gabrielle, which he named after a Science fiction show called Xena Princesss Warrior. Xena's sidekick was Gabrielle in the series which inspired the dogs names when he adopted the dogs.

He loved this poem and I am sure he would have loved to have it shared. It provided me great comfort when my son passed away.

I Am Gone

(a rendition of a poem by Davis Harkens)

I am gone.

You can shed tears that I am gone

Or you can smile because I lived

You can close your eyes and pray that I can come back

Or you can open your eyes and see all that I have left

Your heart can be empty because you cannot see me

Or you can be full of thankfulness for the love and friendship we shared

You can turn your back on tomorrow and live for yesterday

Or you can be happy for your tomorrows because of our shared yesterdays

You can remember me only when I am gone

Or you can cherish my memory and let it live on

You can cry and close your mind, feel empty and turn your back

Or you can do what I would want: smile, open your eyes, go find love and carry on.

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Roland did not want a funeral or service or a newspaper obituary, He fought a very very long hard battle with his health conditions and he just wanted to go home.

He regularly gave to the American Cancer Foundation, American Heart Foundation and the ASPCA and in leiu of flowers he would love to have people donate to those causes or any charitable organization of choice if desired.

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