Ronald R Gilliam

Ronald Roy Gilliam, age 91 of Covenant Towers, Myrtle Beach passed away Sunday, January 22, 2023 at Embrace Hospice House of Myrtle Beach.

Born October 24, 1931 in Monrovia, CA, he was the son of the late Francis and Rose Marie Gilliam.  From an early age, Ronald Gilliam was an avid outdoors man and had a love of mountaineering, scuba diving, cycling, and was involved with the Sierra Club.  He was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran having served in the Korean Conflict as an intelligence officer.  After his service, he worked in radar air defense systems at the early RAND Corporation.  Four years of post-graduate work at UCLA and the University of Bonn in Germany led him into the CIA.  However, he finally found his métier in military operations research, leading analytical studies in intelligence collection and analysis systems for the aerospace/defense industry, working in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, as well as the USA.  Upon retiring for a period to Mexico, he had many articles published in various military history, aviation history, and Mexico travel publications.  He was preceded in death by his first wife of 50 years, Elizabeth Smoot Gilliam.

Surviving are his wife of 14 years, Elaine D. Gilliam; three daughters, Ursula Gilliam, Alessandra Sclichter, and Pamela Jacobson; five grandchildren; and a brother, Gordon Gilliam.

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