Skip remembered for marine passion

The community is mourning the loss of a treasured local historian, marine enthusiast and retired educator.

E.B. ‘Skip’ Gillham died Wednesday at the age of 75.

The seasoned Vineland author and longtime teacher at Beamsville District Secondary School is being remembered for his passion for education and sharing knowledge with others.

Gillham had a love of ships, the Great Lakes and the Welland Canal, writing about his favourite topic for a variety of publications over several decades.

He wrote close to 60 books in addition to thousands of articles for newspapers, historical journals, newsletters and online websites.

His Ships That Ply the Lakes column has been running in the St. Catharines Standard since 1970. Gillham’s final submission was published earlier this month.

In the days since his father’s passing, Doug Gillham has been touched by the wide array of people who have shared stories of how the elder Gillham has had an impact on their lives.

“People have been stopping me to say what a difference my dad made to them, how he changed their life or impacted them in a positive way.”

“It’s inspiring, it’s encouraging,” he said, noting he strives to be even “half the person he was.”

“I hope he realized how much he was appreciated. I think he did. That’s just how he lived his life — it was never about him. It was always about others. He would be embarrassed by attention.”

Gillham taught high school for 33 years — 29 of them at BDSS — and worked as a guidance counsellor and physical education teacher.

When he retired in 1997, he continued coaching cross country and track for another decade.

Doug said his father made many lasting connections with students, athletes and fellow faculty at the school.

“He was a constant source of encouragement,” he said, “always encouraging people to pursue what they loved and were good at.”

Despite Gillham’s heavy community involvement, he always made family — including wife Carol and sons Doug and David — a priority.

“I never questioned whether family was most important to my dad,” Doug said. “I watched him growing up give, give, give to the community, but never at the expense of his family.”

“He was my dad. One of my best friends. My mentor. My coach. My champion in life.”

Gillham was also a respected member of a community of marine enthusiasts.

He was a regular contributor to Great Lakes and Seaway Shipping Online, otherwise known as BoatNerd.com.

Tributes began pouring into the online information hub as news of Gillham’s death spread.

“I was lucky enough to have met him on a number of occasions during visits to the Welland Canal,” vice-president Roger Lelievre said.

The Michigan man connected with Gillham over their shared passion and formed a friendship that grew over several years.

“He was a pretty unassuming guy. He was sort of out of the spotlight and preferred it that way,” Lelievre said.

Gillham had what Lelievre described as an “amazing collection” of Great Lakes images and historical data, which he was always willing and eager to share.

“Everybody from U.S. to Canada, overseas, knew Skip Gillham and really admired him. He was in the hobby for the pure love of the ships. He wasn’t in it to make money.”

Lelievre credited Gillham for keeping the history of Canadian shipping alive through his many books that detailed even the most obscure companies.

“Those stories would have been lost to time if somebody like Skip hadn’t come along who had a passion for it. He made it his work to write them down.”

People respected the abundance of knowledge paired with endless enthusiasm that Gillham provided, Lelievre said.

“He knew a lot of people and touched a lot of people’s lives in a positive way, including mine.”

In addition to passing along regular shipping news updates and writing features on ships used as breakwalls at drydocks, Gillham wrote a daily Lookback series for the BoatNerd website, accumulating about 900 articles in recent years.

“He was very proud of how many he had done continuously,” Lelievre said.

“He really felt the responsibility to pass this information along and share it with others.”

A private burial is being planned for Vineland Cemetery. Details about a memorial service will be announced at a later date.