FAMOUS AND NEARLY FAMOUS RELATIVES
of Marion Gohr
Here is a listing of some prominent relatives of mine. Most are what some people call shirt-tail relatives, but I still claim them. The most famous proven one I have found so far is Actor Hugh Gillin, Jr.
KING ROBERT THE BRUCE OF SCOTLAND (1274-1329). One prominent person in history who very likely could be related is Robert the Bruce. He is surely the greatest of all the great Scottish heroes. His astonishing victory at Bannockburn in 1314 over the much larger and better-equipped forces of Edward II ensured Scottish freedom from control by the hated English. And thus he became Robert I, King of Scotland. A Declaration of Independence was signed in 1320 and Scotland remained fully independent until 1603 (when James Stuart succeeded Queen Elizabeth I). Some of his actions have been recognized in modern times through the Hollywood movie, “Braveheart.” Through my mother’s Clarke family, I am descended from Mary Bruce (b. ca. 1766 in England, d. 1826 at Ripon, Yorkshire, England). She is reported to be a direct descendant of Robert the Bruce, although no proof of this has been found (and reportedly he had no male descendants). For more information on the Bruce family, see my BRUCE GENEALOGY Page.
MARLA CALICO. She is probably not “famous” to the rest of the world, but in Springfield, Missouri (where I live) and in Southwest Missouri, she has become a household name. She was the general manager of the Ozark Empire Fair in Springfield, Missouri, for 27 years straight, serving 8 years as assistant general manager before that. She left that position in 2004 and after a stint in New York City, she's now (as of January 2006) the special facilities coordinator for the Springfield-Greene County Parks and Recreation Department. She grew up on her family farm between Verona and Aurora and now has a farm near Fair Grove, Missouri. She is descended from the same Calico/Callico family that I descend from in Madison County, Arkansas, so we are distant cousins. For more information on the Callico family, see my CALLICO/CALLICOTT/CALICO GENEALOGY Page.
HOLLYWOOD ACTOR HUGH CLAIR GILLIN, JR. (1925-2004).
Hugh Clair Gillin, Jr. starred in films such as Back to the Future III; Elvira, Mistress of the Dark; Elvis and Me; Psycho II; Paper Moon, and many others. He also had guest appearances on a number of different television shows including Matlock, The Facts of Life, Alice, WKRP Cincinnati, Lou Grant, MASH, and Charlie's Angels. He was the son Hugh Clair Gillin, Sr. and Marguerite (Clarke) Gillin of Pittsburg, Kansas. His mother descends from the same Clarke family that I do. For more information on the Clarke family, see my CLARKE GENEALOGY Page.
GILBERT VERNON “GIL” ROBERTS (1900-1983). Gilbert “Gil” Roberts was my great-uncle. He was the full brother of my grandmother, Bonnie Ruth (Callico) Henry, but he chose to use his mother’s name. He also was the half-brother of Henrietta Tompkins, M.D. (1918-1996). Gil was revered as a war hero and a resourceful Standard Oil man. He was both an inventive machinist and a fair country hardball pitcher on the company’s widely respected semi-pro baseball team. In 1955, after visiting an impoverished band of Navajo Indians in Arizona, Gilbert Roberts went on a San Bernardino radio program and persuaded hundreds of listeners to begin donating food, money and clothing to the tribe. He then spent the next 15 years, annually, making deliveries by truck to Flagstaff from his San Bernardino farm. He was a true champion of Native Americans. His son, Howie Roberts, put together a book on his life. It is called “Gilly, A Humble Crusader.” For more information on the Roberts family, see my ROBERTS GENEALOGY Page.
DWIGHT DIERKS SUTHERLAND, SR. (1922-2001). Dwight Dierks Sutherland, Sr. married my mom's first cousin, Norma Trine Henry. Dwight Sutherland attended Princeton University and Kansas University. He was treasurer and later chairman and CEO of the family-owned Sutherlands Lumber Company, a well-known lumber company in the Midwest region, which was founded by his father, Robert Sutherland. He also created the Sutherland Institute of the KU Medical Center, dedicated to facial reconstruction of children through plastic surgery, and served on a number of corporate boards. He was president of the American Royal Board of Governors, served on the board of the Cowboy Hall of Fame, and was chairman of the Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering & Technology in Kansas City, Missouri. For more information on the Henry family, see my HENRY GENEALOGY Page.
HENRIETTA TOMPKINS, M.D. (1918-1996). Henrietta Tompkins was my great-aunt. She was a half-sister to Gilbert Vernon "Gil" Roberts (1900-1983) and a half-sister to my grandmother, Bonnie Ruth (Callico) Henry. She graduated from the University of Southern California Medical School with a specialty in internal medicine. She was the only woman graduate in her class, and one of the first women doctors to practice in the United States. She lived in Honolulu, Hawaii for many, many years, working at the Kaiser Hospital and at the Queens Hospital there. In retirement she lived many years at Makaha, Hawaii and passed away in Melbourne, Florida. For more information on the Roberts family (Henrietta's mother's family), see my ROBERTS GENEALOGY Page.
NEARLY FAMOUS RELATIVES
Another prominent individual that was reported to be related is GENERAL MARK CLARK (1896-1984) who served in France during World War I and then later became a famous general during World War II. He accepted the surrender of German forces in Italy and Austria at the close of the war in May 1945. But he is from New York and my family spells the name as CLARKE, so this does not seem too likely.
ROBERT SCHUMANN (1810-1856) was a German composer and pianist. He was one of the most famous Romantic composers of the first half of the 19th century. It is possible (but if so, very distant) there is a connection with his family. He was born in Zwickau, Saxony, and one of my great-great-grandmothers was Catherine Elizabeth (Schumann) Stumpf (b. ca. 1865) of Warenburg, Russia.
Copyright © 1998-2006.
Last updated June 30, 2006.
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