John Gilmore, builder, father of athletes

SHAKING HANDS with John P. Gilmore was like "shaking hands with a bear," someone once remarked.

John was a big man - 6 feet 4, 260 pounds - and heavily muscled. As the head of a busy construction company in the Northeast, he never hesitated to pitch in and do some of the heavy work himself.

But when his grandkids came along, this bear of a man turned into a pussycat. He might have been tough on his four sons and daughter, emphasizing hard work and discipline, but the grandkids saw only his soft, loving side.

John Gilmore, a native of Dunmore, County Galway, Ireland, who came to Philadelphia in 1956, went right into construction work and became active in local Irish organizations, died Saturday of amyloidosis. He was 79 and lived in Ivyland, Bucks County.

"Everybody was shocked at his death," said his son James Gilmore, onetime offensive lineman for the Eagles and Miami Dolphins. "He was so strong and active to the end."

Jack Gilmore, as he was known to family and friends, was an outstanding athlete in his youth and fathered a pack of outstanding athletes:

* Jim, All-Catholic and All-City in football at North Catholic High School, lineman at Ohio State and the Eagles in 1986. His career was cut short when he was injured in 1987 while with the Dolphins.

* Tom, All-Catholic and All-City in football and wrestling at North Catholic, Maxwell Award winner at the University of Pennsylvania, and now an award-winning coach at Holy Cross, where he won the Patriot League Coach of the Year Award twice.

* Mike, All-Catholic and All-City in football and wrestling at North Catholic, Daily News Athlete of the Year in 1984, champion wrestler at Lycoming College.

* John, considered by the family as its best athlete, whose career was cut short by an injury at age 14.

* Mary Ann D'Angelo, outstanding basketball and field hockey player at St. Basil Academy.

Their father was an amateur boxer in England and played Gaelic football in Ireland, England, and the United States for 10 years after his arrival here.

"Our father preached excellence in everything and that's why all of his children excelled in athletics and won scholarships to college," Jim said. "He was very disciplined and very focused. He was a very strong man, both physically and morally."

Jack Gilmore was born in Dunmore, the oldest of the five children of Patrick Gilmore and the former Mary Mitchell. He lived in England, working in construction, for about four years before moving to Philadelphia to be with a sister.

He started his own general contracting business in 1962, the year he married Sarah "Sadie" Boyce.

He retired from the company in 1988, but continued to work with construction companies run by sons John and Michael. Jim runs an engineering software and services company, and Mary Ann is in marketing in the pharmaceutical industry.

There was rarely an activity of his grandchildren that Jack didn't attend. He kept up with the exploits of John's son, Pat, a heavyweight wrestler at the University of Maryland, catching his matches whenever he could.

Jack was long an active member of the Philadelphia Galway Society and the Irish Center (Commodore Barry Club.)

He also is survived by three sisters, Kathleen Thomas, Mary Coyle and Nora Higgins; a brother, Thomas, and 12 grandchildren.

Services: Funeral Mass 10 a.m. today at St. Vincent de Paul Church, 654 Hatboro Road, Richboro. Friends may call at 8:15 a.m. at the Joseph A. Fluehr III Funeral Home, 800 Newtown-Richboro Road, Richboro.

Burial will be in Resurrection Cemetery, Bensalem. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Amyloidosis Foundation, c/o www.amyloidosis.org.