Evelyn J. Gillies passed away on Thursday January 26, 2017. She was the beloved wife of Lucas Gillies; mother of one son and three daughters; Robert Gillies of Playa del Rey, California, Ann Marie George of Sonora, California, Pattie Cumming deceased, and Catherine Mitchell of Tucson Arizona. She is survived by five grandchildren and five great grandchildren.

Evelyn was 96 years, Born on November 20, 1920 in Los Angeles and raised in Los Angeles. She graduated from Dorsey High School and then went to St. Vincent’s Hospital School of Nursing where she graduated as a Registered Nurse in 1943.

Evelyn and Luke enjoyed traveling with trips to Hawaii, Alaska, Canada, the Caribbean, Panama Canal, and Mexico. She loved to make quilts and garden in her yard.

Evelyn Jeanette Gillies was born on November 20, 1920. This makes her older than:

Pacific Coast Highway – the Santa Monica to Oxnard portion of the highway went out to contract in 1925 and was completed in 1929. At the opening ceremony in 1929, it was designated “The Theodore Roosevelt Highway.”

The Empire State Building – Construction started in 1929 and was completed in 1931.

The Golden Gate Bridge – Construction began in 1933 and it opened in 1937.

Union Station – opened in downtown Los Angeles in 1939. Union Station was built to replace La Grande Station (at 2nd Street and Santa Fe Ave) and Central Station (at Fifth and Central Avenues).

Los Angeles International Airport – the first airport on that site was called Mines Field and was opened in 1930. The Sepulveda tunnel was completed in 1953 to accommodate the longer runways necessary for modern jet planes. The airport terminals that we are all familiar with opened in 1961-62.

The zipper – the modern day zipper was first manufactured in 1923. It was 10-15 years before the fashion industry began incorporating it into clothing.

Scotch Tape – first marketed in 1933.

Penicillin - She was 8 when penicillin was discovered.

Band-Aids – Band-aids were invented in 1920 and first mass produced in 1924.

Color Photographs – the Eastman Kodak company introduced Kodachrome film in 1936

Commercial Radio – the first radio news broadcast was in August 1920. The first entertainment show aired in October 1920 and the first broadcast of a sporting event was in November 1920.

Talking Movies – The Jazz Singer (1927).

Superman – first appeared in 1938. Evelyn is older than Superman.

Prohibition – Evelyn was born just after the 18th Amendment went into effect. She was 13 when it was repealed.

Food – Wonder Bread (1921), pre-sliced Wonder Bread (1930), See’s Candies (1921), Welch’s Grape Jelly (1923), modern flash-frozen food (1925), Rice Krispies (1928), Bisquick (1931), Cake Mixes (1935 first patent), Spam (1937), Chocolate Chip Cookies (1938), Chocolate Chips (1939), Cheerios (1941), M&M’s (1941)

Sliced Bread – Read the above entry carefully – Evelyn is older than sliced bread!

Countries – USSR (1922), Ireland* (1922), Egypt* (1922), Turkey (1923), Canada* (1931), Australia* (1931), New Zealand* (1931), Saudi Arabia (1932), India* (1947), Israel (1948), China (1949)

*indicates independence from Great Britain

Evelyn was:

• 7 when Charles Lindberg flew across the Atlantic

• 9 when the stock market crashed in 1929

• 11 when Thomas Edison died.

• 15 when Babe Ruth hit his final home run and retired from baseball

• 17 when Amelia Earhart’s plane went down.

• 21 when Pearl Harbor was bombed

• 27 when Henry Ford died.

• 34 when Albert Einstein died

• 48 when Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon

Document Originator: Karen Yost