Elizabeth Seton "Liza" Gillis

Elizabeth Gillis
Battle Creek, Michigan







Elizabeth "Liza" Seton Gillis, 51, of Battle Creek, Michigan, died Saturday, May 23, 2015, following a battle with cancer. Liza was born November 12, 1963, in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, the daughter of Angus Francis Gillis and Mary Josephine (nee Beaton) Gillis.

Raised in Harper Woods, Liza was a 1981 graduate of Grosse Pointe North High School. She attended Michigan State University as an Evans Scholar, studying crop and soil sciences and agricultural engineering. After graduation, she joined the Peace Corps and was stationed in Niger, West Africa. There she built cement drinking water wells, introduced resilient crops and livestock, and developed a deep and lasting affection for the continent and its people.

Liza returned home to join The Kellogg Company where she worked 22 years in the W.K. Kellogg Institute for Food and Nutrition Research as an engineer and later an executive. She was well-known within the company for her efforts to mentor new employees and women in the sciences.

Liza was an avid reader, a hobby that fueled her imagination and wit. She loved learning about this world through National Geographic and Smithsonian magazines, but also enjoyed exploring other worlds through fantasy and science fiction literature. She re-wrote the endings to books that disappointed her and endlessly entertained family and friends with stories from her keen observations, many travels, and the books and movies she enjoyed. When she was young, a librarian challenged Liza to live her life as though it were the sequel to her favorite adventure, The Three Musketeers. This she did, from the wide range of interests she pursued to the many and varied friendships she cultivated.

Liza had a joyful, unassuming spirit that expressed itself in song and deed. She was an alto with the Battle Creek Community Chorus, where she loved to design and build the group's sets as much as be part of the performances. She enjoyed entertaining others, often hosting guests at her home. She once hosted an office Christmas dinner from her hotel room in Omaha, Nebraska -- the entire affair prepared in a toaster oven.

The gift of joy was at the heart of Liza's optimism and generosity. She believed anything was possible and selflessly gave of her time, talents and resources to make it so. For these reasons, she was a generous supporter of many charities and causes, most notably the Evans Scholars Foundation, St. Philip Catholic Church, and the Diocese of Kalamazoo where she was a member of The Bishop's Circle and served on the Diocesan Development Advisory Board.

Liza had a loving relationship with her family. She especially enjoyed playing the cool aunt to her nieces and nephew. She took the kids to interesting places and showered them with thoughtful and unique gifts and experiences. She remained close to her nephew in California by playing online games with him and his friends. She saw just how far she would go for him when she found herself shark cage diving among the Great Whites off the coast of South Africa. Liza traveled with her niece to Vancouver, British Columbia, to attend a week-long Supernatural fan convention because they were both avid followers of the long-running TV series. Trips to Disney World were "no holds barred" shopping excursions for princess dresses.

Liza is survived by her mother Mary Josephine; her sisters Anne (Thomas) Furlong and Margaret (Vittorio) Bruni; her nephew, Alec Furlong; and nieces, Josephine and Meredith Bruni. Her father, Angus, greeted her in heaven where he was waiting for her to hold the flashlight on another project.

A Mass of Christian burial was celebrated May 30th at St. Philip Roman Catholic Church in Battle Creek, Michigan. Liza is laid to rest next to her father on the Isle of Cape Breton in the Church of the Immaculate Conception cemetery, West Lake Ainslie, Nova Scotia, Canada.