| Graduation Year | Class of 1990 |
| Date of Passing | Aug 31, 2007 |
| About | Derrek Elliott Gillis, 35, of Grandview, Mo., passed away Aug. 31, 2007, at home. Memorial services will be at 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 8, at Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses, 6033 E. 137th Street, Grandview. Cremation. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Erika Gillis Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 99, Grandview, Mo. 64030-0099. Derrek was born on July 9, 1972, to Clarence Gillis and Montez Gillis nee Colbert in Washington, D.C. He graduated from Carl Junction High School, Carl Junction, Mo., and came to Kansas City in 1993. On July 8, 1994, he married Erika Louis. Derrek worked for the state of Missouri for 11 years until he became an IT tech for Stinson, Morrison & Hecker. He loved basketball, music, writing poetry, drawing and enjoyed composing and singing his original music. He was preceded in death by brothers, Aaron Phillip Gillis, 1974, and Cameron Ashley Gillis, 2001. Survivors include wife, Erika, of the home; daughter, Kennedi Chase Eileen Gillis, of the home; father, Clarence Phillip Gillis, Maryland; mother, Montez Russell, Jefferson City, Mo.; maternal grandparents, Eugene Joseph Colbert and Hazel Everlon Colbert, both of Brandywine, Md.; paternal grandmother, Mary Minor, Tucson, Ariz.; brothers, Jarrod Christopher Gillis, Phoenix, Ariz., Ryahn McCarthy Gillis, Joplin, Mo., Braden Addison Wartick, Jefferson City, and Gerren Mikhail Colbert Wartick, Jefferson City. |
