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Majors Charles and Linda Gillies
After a combined 43 years of service with The Salvation Army, Majors Charles (Chuck) and Linda (Brown) Gillies retired, effective Jan. 1.
The Whittier (Calif.) Corps—their final appointment—held a retirement celebration for them on Dec. 26, 2010, during its Christmas holiness meeting. Officiating at the event were retired Lt. Colonels Alfred and Sheryl Van Cleef, the same officers who had enrolled Chuck Gillies as a soldier. Major Sherry McWhorter shared her personal testimony of how the Gillies impacted her life in 1991 when they served in Fairbanks, Alaska. Lt. Colonels Victor and Rose-Marie Leslie, Southern California divisional commanders, also attended.
The Gillies married in 1969. Linda Brown was commissioned in 1967 with the Witnesses to the Faith Session—six years prior to Chuck Gillies’ commissioning in 1973 with the Blood and Fire Session.
As a single officer, Brown served at the Kingsburg (1968) and Fresno Citadel (1969) corps, Calif. She became inactive until her reacceptance in 1979 when Chuck Gillies was commissioned.
Together, the Gillies held appointments in Spokane and Seattle, Wash.; Hilo, Hawaii; Fairbanks, Alaska; and Western Territorial Headquarters. They relocated to the Caribbean Territory in 1994 and transferred back into the Western Territory in 1995. Following their return, they held positions at the College for Officer Training; Olympia, Wash.; Western Territorial Headquarters; Redondo Beach, Calif.; Southern California divisional headquarters; and Whittier.
Upon retirement, they were serving as corps officers in Whittier. They will continue their service there until summer moves are implemented.
The Gillies will make their home in Whittier.
Majors Alfred C. Parker II and Stella Parker
After over 24 years as officers in The Salvation Army, Majors Alfred and Stella Parker retired.
Alfred (Chris) Parker was the son of Salvation Army officers who served in the southern United States before relocating to Greeley, Colo., in 1970. Later that year they became guardians of Stella Morrison.
Parker and Morrison married in 1972. In 1974 they served one year as envoys in Laramie, Wyo., then transferred to the Denver Citadel Corps where Chris Parker was a youth assistant. After a brief time away from the Army, they returned to the West Adams Corps and eventually back to the Denver Citadel.
In the interim, the couple worked to rebuild the Denver Harbor Light, which had been shut down. They became street missionaries for three years—daily serving meals to the needy. They established a shelter that housed 200 men, along with Safe Harbor, a working man’s training center for 35 men, with a clinic and recovery chapel services weekly, sponsored by the Denver Citadel Corps.
In 1984 they entered the School for Officer Training with the Proclaimers of the Gospel Session and were commissioned in 1986. Major Chris Parker attended the Brengle Institute in 2003.
After initial appointments in Hawaii, they served in Sheridan, Wyo.; Greeley, Colo.; Lodi, Calif.; then returned to the Metro Denver Social Services, where they administered a variety of services. Their final appointments were Grand Junction, Colo.; Casper, Wyo.; and the Denver Adult Rehabilitation Center.
The Denver Citadel Corps hosted their retirement celebration on Jan. 2. Major Victor Doughty, Intermountain divisional commander, presented the retirement certificates.
The Parkers spent 20 of their 24 years as officers in the Intermountain Division, building bridges between corps and social services.