Obituaries

Whitney Russell Gilman, builder, passed away at home, with his wife, at the age of 67 on Friday, Sept. 26, 2008. After a long, courageous battle with cancer, he was at peace and ready to go. Even though his rich life was cut short, with many marvelous plans still in the making, Whitney left this life feeling filled to the brim and overflowing with blessings, love, miracles, kindness, awe and wonder, deep humility and gratitude and the presence and love of God.
The son of Floyd Russell and Beatrice Charlotte Gilman, Whitney was born in San Francisco on Aug. 24, 1941. He attended Ross Grammar School, was an altar boy at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Ross, achieved the rank of Eagle Scout and graduated from The San Rafael Military Academy (1959). Whitney studied at the College of Marin, the University of Freiburg, the Monterey Institute for Foreign Studies, University of Salamanca, Spain, Sonoma State (B.A., 1967), the University of Heidelberg and California State University, Fullerton (M.A. in German, 1969). As a credentialed teacher, he conducted classes at Santa Rosa Junior College.
Whitney made Sonoma his home. In 1971, he and lifelong friend Helge Bruckner founded Vintage Builders, a residential construction company that also held ownership of Broadway Lumber and Vintage Nursery. In the 1980s, the duo launched Vintage Enterprises, a commercial building company that was instrumental in the development of Sonoma’s Eighth Street East “industrial wine corridor.” Due to their pioneering vision and creation of pretreatment facilities and night air-cooling systems for wine storage, the business continues to be vital to the area’s economic growth.
Whitney was the loving husband to singer Juliett Scott; proud father to Matthew Whitney Gilman and Jennifer Margaret Gilman; grandfather to Andrew Riku Gilman – all of Sonoma; and brother to Charlotte Whitney Lambert of Trout Lake, Wash. He is also survived by former daughter-in-law Maki Aizawa Gilman, former wife Cory Fisher Gilman of Sonoma and cousins Jacqueline Gilman and Christy Stocking of Marin County. He has left behind many nieces, nephews and grand-nieces and grand-nephews.
A true Renaissance man, Whitney served as a Valley of the Moon volunteer firefighter for 27 years and as a deputy sheriff pilot for Sonoma County Search and Rescue. He loved and worked his land by hand for 40 years. He had the hands and tools for every possible job (and knew how to use them all and could make or fix anything). His interests and hobbies, all of which he shared with his wife, included world travel, history and culture, fluency in five languages, music and opera, horticulture and organic gardening, gourmet food and wine, art, spirituality and comparative world religions and all the sciences. He passed a master class in singing, and was a fine sailor, a small-craft pilot, vintner, beekeeper, bird watcher and animal lover, amateur astronomer and ham radio operator, mycological aficionado, deep-sea fisherman, hunter, up-and-coming master gardener, artist and scuba diver. Since he was a boy, he maintained a voracious appetite for everything that the world had to offer and spent much of his youth exploring Mount Tamalpais.
Whitney lived a rich, loving, exciting and spiritually fulfilled life. He made friends all around the world and has left a giant footprint. Countless friends, family, and community members have treasured his generosity, benefited from his kind and loving guidance and will miss his beautiful smile, mischievous sense of humor and infectious laughter. His memory will be honored and treasured forever and he will be sorely missed by more people than he would ever, ever believe.
Memorial services will be held Saturday, Oct. 25 at 3 p.m. at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 14 Lagunitas Ave., Ross, 94957. The Rev. Chris Rankin-Williams and staff will officiate.
Donations in Whitney’s memory can be sent to Hospice By the Bay, 190 W. Napa St., Sonoma, CA 95476; Vintage House, 264 First St. E., Sonoma, CA 95476; Sonoma City Opera, 484 E. Napa St. Sonoma, CA 95476 or Wounded Warrior Project at www.woundedwarriorproject.org.