Kevin G. Gillett
Aug. 14, 1976 ~ Feb. 15, 2021
It is with great sadness and love that we mourn the loss of Kevin George Gillett who passed away from complications following a cardiac event on February 15, 2021. A devoted son, husband, father, brother, uncle, and friend, Kevin left us too soon. His life and legacy stretched from coast to coast.
Born in Rockledge, Florida, the only son of Karin and Ron Gillett, he grew up fishing, shooting hoops, playing golf and being a devoted big brother to his three younger sisters. He attended high school at The Bolles School and went on to study computer science and applied mathematics at Princeton University. At Princeton , he was a member of Quadrangle and experienced the joy of playing basketball for Coach Pete Carril, beating UCLA in the NCAA tournament his freshman year.
Upon graduation from Princeton Kevin moved west to California to begin his career at Oracle. After Oracle , he worked at Amazon and Google where he made significant contributions. He was Engineering Director at Facebook at the time of his passing. Technical, eloquent, driven, passionate and curious, Kevin was a valued team member throughout his career. Kevin thought of himself as a mentor to all members of his various teams, never the boss in the traditional sense.
Kevin met the love of his life, Erin, on a date arranged by one of her friends. What started with a walk on the beach evolved into a shared journey of 21 years. They enjoyed summers boating at Lake Tahoe and golfing at Pebble Beach, where they married in 2002. They were both passionate about basketball, the ocean and, of course, their amazing children. There was nothing Kevin enjoyed more than (loudly) cheering on his daughter at her water polo matches or (not so loudly) cheering for his son at competitive chess tournaments.
At 6’10” Kevin was a big guy with an even bigger heart, and he will be deeply missed by all those who had the pleasure to know him.
Kevin is survived by parents, Karin and Ron Gillett; wife, Erin; children ,Paedrin and Kingsley Gillett; sisters, Keira (Neil Dergenski), Caidi Gillett Phillips (Eric) and Caia Gillett; in-laws, Bob and Claudette Rosenberg; brotherin-law, Shanan Rosenberg( Sarah); nephews, Clyde, Walt and Gus Rosenberg and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.
A Memorial Service will be held at a later date when COVID restrictions lift.
Memorial Contributions may be made to Princeton Men’s Basketball Program: makeagift.Princeton.edu Sacred Heart Schools Atherton: gifts@shschools.org or Oceana.org.