About Bill Gillis
Bill Gillis
Bill, his wife Karen, and son Brett moved to Creedmoor, NC back in the early 90's. Creedmoor and South Granville Country Club became their home for 20+ years before retiring and returning to Georgia. He was a member at South Granville Country Club, living within walking distance of the club.
Bill became diagnosed with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) in April of 2020. He first noticed that he had been having trouble with keeping his balance, that was causing him to fall backwards often. He was also having some trouble with his thoughts and emotions. These were just some things that were throwing up red flags for the family, because we knew he wasn’t acting like his normal self.
After many months, and many doctor visits, we still had no answers. It took him falling and busting his nose to get to the right spot. My mom got him in the car and started the hour-long trek to the ER at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL to be looked at. Referrals are a difficult thing to get at this prestigious hospital. In fact, Bill’s nurse mentioned that he had not seen a referral given out of the ER in his 10-year career. That day, Bill got that referral.
It was then, that we were introduced to Dr. Gregory Day. He was able to sit down with my dad, hear his story and symptoms, and knew immediately what was going on. It was Progressive Supranuclear Palsy. At the time, this was something that our family had no idea about. He explained that PSP was a progressive neurological disease caused by the folding of proteins in brain cells. And that at the moment, there is no treatment or cure. He was the first person in many months that was able to give the answer that we had been looking for, even though it was not the one we wanted.
The progressive part of this disease was a large part of my dad’s journey. PSP usually starts around the 60-year-old range and progresses from there. When my dad was diagnosed, he was 80 years old, so the progression was extremely quick.
Diagnosed in April, and he passed away in July of the same year.
After my dad passed, he was taken to the Mayo clinic in Jacksonville, where he donated his brain for research for a cure of PSP.
Everyone on the Gillis side of the family plays golf. From my grandparents to my dad and uncles, to my cousins and myself. Golf has always been a part of our family, and something that my dad and I enjoyed together a lot. When I decided I wanted to do something to honor my dad, the golf tournament was the perfect and only choice.