Dillon R. Gaulding

My grandfather, Dillon Roland Gaulding, 96, entered into heaven on September 11, 2018.  In recent years, Grandpa had started suffering from dementia and moved to Brookdale in Shawnee, KS to receive specialized care.  Although Grandpa's memories had started to blur, he lived a full life and shared his life lessons, stories and wisdom that will live on through his family.

Dillon Roland Gaulding entered this world on March 4, 1922 in Larned, Kansas.  He was the 12th of 13 children born to Robert and Martha ‘Mattie' (McAllister) Gaulding.  In 1925, his mother passed away and he, along with seven other siblings, went to live in the Central Wesleyan Orphanage in Warrenton, Missouri.  He lived there through the 1920s and the Great Depression in the 1930s.  However, the Depression brought hard times to the orphanage and he ran away.  He eventually settled in Mountain Grove, Missouri with his sister Margaret.  Grandpa graduated high school in 1940.

Not long after graduation, he joined the Marine Corps.  Grandpa did not enjoy military life, but he was extremely proud of his service.  He credits the Corps with shaping his character.  Grandpa was stationed in Iceland when the United States entered into World War II.  In 1942, his division was sent into the Pacific Theater to Guadalcanal and later Cape Gloucester.  At the end of the war, he was transferred to China and was honorably discharged in 1947.

Grandpa returned home visiting with family and eventually found his way back to Larned.  He was very active in the community working with the Boy Scouts, Community Hospital and Kiwanis Club to name a few.  Larned is also where he met his first wife, Marilyn Zimmer.  They married in 1953.  After some time, they moved to Wichita.  Grandpa had gone back to college and was in the middle of his accounting degree in 1961 when he and Marilyn welcomed their daughter, Sally Ann, into their lives.  He completed his degree in 1962.  After graduation, Grandpa went to work for the Internal Revenue Service and his family came to live in Prairie Village, Kansas.  Grandpa and Grandma Marilyn went their separate ways in 1977.

In 1980, Grandpa married Anne Jackson Monahan.  Then two years later, he retired from the IRS.  Grandpa kept busy tending his flowers, woodworking, and traveling.  But above all, Grandpa was a family man and loved spending time with his family.  Grandpa loved to share fun facts and share stories about his life.  He encouraged us to be lifelong learners.  He supported us in our activities.  And he constantly worried about all of us and did his best to take care of us and help us if we needed it.  He loved his family and we love him.

Grandpa was preceded in death by his parents, Robert and Martha Gaulding; his siblings:  Flora, Art, Roy, Mac, Margaret, Ray, Ione, Jay, Edith, Jean and Hal.  He is survived by his wife of 38 years, Anne, and his daughter Sally Westmoreland and her husband William; four step-sons:  Michael Monahan, Dennis Monahan and his wife Julie, John Monahan and his wife Kathy, and Paul Monahan; eleven grandchildren:  Ashley Hibbs and her husband Donovan, Scott Amer, John Matthew Monahan, Ryan Monahan, Patrick Monahan, Jessica Monahan, Danny Monahan, Bonnie Monahan, Tracy Monahan, Molly Monahan, Andrew Monahan; and four great-grandchildren:  Bryanna Amer, Dillon Hibbs, Aria Hibbs, and Ezra Monahan.

-Written by Ashley Hibbs

Visitation will be on September 14th, 2018 from 9:30 to 10:00 AM at Amos Family Funeral Home, 10901 Johnson Dr., Shawnee, KS 66203.  A funeral service will immediately follow at 10:00 AM.  Burial will be at St. John’s Catholic Cemetery in Lenexa, KS.

The family asks any memorial donations may be made to Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, 716 Mt. Airyshire Blvd., Suite 100, Columbus, OH 43235.