Obituary of Kathryn " Katie" Margaret Gillis

It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of our beloved daughter Kathryn “Katie” Margaret Gillis on Friday evening, August 21, 2020 in Calgary at the age of 27.

 

Katie was the eldest of our four children. At an early age it became evident that she had special needs. Although this made her life challenging, she was able to cope with her disability with a lot of help from many teachers and staff over the years at Renfrew School, Hull Home and more recently from SCOPE at House 112.

Katie took great solace in art. As a child she loved to draw and paint, and as she matured, the art form she most loved was video art.  She combined video and audio to create and record little skits that she starred in. She relished sharing her latest creations with us. Her iPad was her easel.

Katie also loved animals, and they loved her. Sensing her "specialness", animals seemed to be naturally drawn to her.  
Our grumpy cat wouldn't let anyone pet her, except Katie.

 
She loved to laugh and had a quirky sense of humour that she loved to share with those around her.

In spite of the brightness she brought to the world, there was an unrelenting darkness that she battled valiantly over the last part of her life. Unfortunately it became too much for her, and last Friday evening she tragically took her own life.
 
Katie leaves to grieve, her dad Don Gillis and mother Debbie Lewis, her stepmom Deb Jarvis, her siblings Madeline Gillis, Natalie Gillis and Conor Gillis, and her step sister Amanda Valentine and step brother Travis Valentine and his wife April. Beyond her immediate family, Katie will also be dearly missed by her long-time friend and guardian Denise Bremault and by her "big sister" Amanda Pedro and husband Phil.

Katie will also be missed by Natalie, Wayne and Daryl and all of the staff at House 112, and by the numerous staff and friends she had made over the years through her affiliation with Calgary SCOPE Society.

 

Melissa Hillman is one of the staff members at SCOPE. She knew Katie very well and she was a frequent helper on her video productions. Melissa wrote this heartfelt poem in her memory. We think it captures Katie's beautiful spirit...

 

KaTie (the way Katie always spelled her name)

 

A beautiful blonde beauty, living in a topsy turvy world.

 

Maybe you didn’t think it was the world for you, I know you had a different view.

 

Born to stand out, not sure how you fit in, where it ends, is where I believe it begins.

 

An angel you are now in heavenly bliss, where you feel like you belong. A place where you can do no wrong.

 

You can sing and dance with your guardian angel, in a beautiful place, where nothing is painful.

 

I know you’re happy now, and you’ll watch over me.

 

It makes me happy knowing, you are now everything you always wanted to be.

 

Thank you to our family and friends for the warm outpouring of support that you have shared with us during this difficult time. We are going to miss our Katie, and your thoughts and prayers have helped to ease our pain. Thank you very much to everyone for all of the flowers that we've already received.

 

If friends so desire, we would ask that you consider making a donation directly to a wonderful charity named Ability4Good at  https://www.ability4good.com/who_we_are

They do wonderful work with special needs kids & adults in Alberta.