George Gilmour - Obituary

eorge A. Gilmour, 76, of Annapolis, and formerly of Severna Park, died July 9 at Anne Arundel Medical Center. He retired from the Westinghouse (now Northrop-Grumman) Oceanic Div. in Annapolis in 1996 after 33 years. Dr. Gilmour was an internationally known expert in high resolution sonar (taking pictures with sound) with 27 U.S. patents. From 1973 to 1996 Westinghouse built many search systems for the Navy where the key search sensor was based on one or more of Dr. Gilmour's inventions. He was given the Navy League Roosevelts gold medal for science in 1997 in recognition of his contributions to the underwater search capability of the U.S. Navy. Dr. Gilmour, the son of the late Alex and Frances Gilmour, was a native of Pavilion, NY where he set an academic record and won NY Regents and Cornell State scholarships. He was an Eagle Scout, won the school's Scholar-Athlete award and played trumpet in an all-state band. He graduated from Cornell in 1956 with an Electrical Engineering degree (with distinction) and, after serving 3 years as an officer in the Navy teaching at the Naval Reactors Facility in Idaho, he returned to Cornell for a PhD in Nuclear Engineering on an Atomic Energy Commission National Fellowship. At Cornell he was a member of NROTC, Delta Chi fraternity, Eta Kappa Nu and Tau Beta Pi engineering honoraries and played trumpet in the band. He was a member of Calvary United Methodist Church where he sang in the choir. He was previously an elder and sang in the choir at Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church in Severna Park before moving to Heritage Harbour in 2002. He sang in the Annapolis Chorale, enjoyed fishing, golf, bowling, playing bridge and traveling. He is survived by his wife of 16 years, Zaida Gilmour, 4 sons: Thomas of Lusby MD, James and John of Pittsburgh PA, Douglas of Orlando FL, a daughter, Jean Nowak of Bangor, Maine, 8 grandchildren and a brother, Scott Gilmour of St. Cloud, FL. He was married for 35 years to the mother of his children, Janet Wilson Gilmour, who died in 1992. A memorial service will be held at 11:30am on Saturday, July 17 at Calvary United Methodist Church, 301 Rowe Blvd, Annapolis, MD 21401. Memorial Contributions may be made to Calvary United Methodist Church or to the Annapolis Chorale, 801 Chase St, Annapolis, MD 21401