Bruce David Gillman

Bruce Gillman, 70, passed away Monday, August 17, 2026.

We welcome all to attend a graveside service at 10 am on Friday, August 21, 2026, at Highland Park Cemetery in Borger; followed by a celebration of his life at 11 am on Friday, August 21, 2026, in the Minton Memorial Chapel. Services are under the direction of Minton Chatwell Funeral Directors of Borger.

Dad married Mother on June 25th, 1975. They recently celebrated 51 years of marriage. Mother was dad’s pride and joy. They lived in Lefors Texas before moving back to Borger in the summer of 1984, where they resided for the rest of his life.

Dad worked at Traveler’s Oil Company from the time he could drive a car. He worked there until 1993. He and mother established and operated TRYMA operating. Dad was clever at naming things and that showed in the naming of TRYMA. “TRY” for his oldest son Trey and “MA” for his youngest son Matt. Matt always threatened that if he ever left, Dad would just have to “TRY” operating without him. Dad never really retired from the oil field.

Dad did attend one year of welding in school in Austin. He brought those skills back to the Texas Panhandle oil fields and never looked back. He would brag to anybody that would listen that he could weld anything from the crack of dawn to the crack of your…..hind quarters. Not only did he weld in the field, but he was also a very talented fabricator and engineer of all things metal and wood. He would take on any project for friends and family and would do them to perfection. He built and installed kitchen cabinets for several friends. Dad was also a gifted automobile painter. That same giving spirit was shown in this area as well. He painted a couple of cars including his two sons’ first pickups.

Dad was a gifted and talented musician. At an early age he learned to play the guitar. A talent that brought him joy through several bands that performed throughout the Texas Panhandle and ended with The Faith Covenant Quartet. Dad never stopped playing the guitar and never stopped listening to music. From Merle Haggard to Metallica, dad appreciated musical talent no matter the genre.

Dad was an avid fisherman. This love of fishing was given to him at birth. His dad and several uncles loved fishing. This love of fishing showed in dad and now his two sons. Not all the family vacations were planned around fishing, but the funniest and most rewarding ones were. Dad loved taking the family on long vacations in the summer. He also enjoyed his family time camping at “the ranch”. There were times that he threatened not to take any food, and we could only eat what we caught or shot. I don’t ever remember catching a can of Vienna sausages but somehow, they were there just in case.

Dad blessed and touched the lives of anybody that he and mother meet in their journey through life together; from lifelong friends that they considered family made at their second home in Arkansas to friends they considered family in Creede Colorado.

Bruce is preceded in death by his parents, John and Georgie Gillman; and brother, Jerry Dean Gillman.

Survivors include his wife, Teresa; sons, Matthew Gillman and wife Cristen, John (Trey) Gillman and wife Heather; grandchildren, Caitlin Topper and husband Trevor, Elizabeth Cagle and husband Charles, Madelin Parker and husband Kase, Shelby Ashley and husband Brittin, Wyatt Gillman; great grandchildren, Charlotte Cagle, Keelee Cagle, Khloe Cagle, Reece Ashley; and brother, Levert Gillman and wife Teresa.