Lee Gaillard

Obituary of Theodore Lee Gaillard, Jr. 1939-2025

It is with heavy hearts that his family and community mourn the passing of Theodore Lee Gaillard, Jr., 86. Lee was an exceptional human being. He was intelligent, kind beyond measure, a demanding but empathetic teacher, interested in just about everything, a lover of the arts, amateur photographer, and a well published writer.

Son of Theodore Lee Gaillard and Patricia Coffin Gaillard (later Lindsay), he was born on February 6, 1939. He leaves his wife, The Reverend Ann Gaillard, and his two children, Gregory Lindsay Gaillard and Jennifer Love Gaillard. He is survived by his brother Tristram (Tim) Gaillard, stepsister Christiana Sutor; and half-sister Patricia Guerard; he is predeceased by his stepbrother Merrill David Lindsay.

Lee attended St. Bernard’s School, Foote School, Choate School (Cum Laude), and Westminster School (London UK) on an English-Speaking Union Fellowship. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude from Yale University and received his M.A. from Middlebury College (Breadloaf Campus). He also served in the United States Marine Corps (Reserves) receiving an honorable discharge with rank of Corporal. He was awarded Outstanding Member of Platoon 384, Leatherneck Magazine Dress Blues Award, and the American Spirit Honor Medal at Parris Island USMCRD.

After Parris Island, Lee began his career in marketing at TIME-LIFE International. After a few years he left the world of business to follow his passions: teaching, scholarship, and writing. He began teaching at Athens College in Greece before returning to the United States to teach English at St. Mark’s School, MA—where he also became acquainted with such notable figures as Robert Frost and Wernher von Braun. In addition to teaching he was also an advisor, soccer coach, and head crew coach. In 1973 Lee and his family moved to Dallas, TX, where he served at the Hockaday School first as English Department Head and then Head of Upper School. In 1988 he and his wife Ann moved to Connecticut where he became Dean of Faculty at Brunswick School. Soon after, they moved to Lake Forest Academy, where he served as Academic Dean. During the years of administration, Lee continued to teach English and European history. In 1994 they moved to Philadelphia where Lee did part-time and substitute teaching on a range of subjects--history, English, science, and Latin/French/Spanish at Agnes Irwin School and William Penn Charter School.

Lee was a true Renaissance man—a “Human Google” as one friend called him. He did freelance writing, publishing articles on literature, history, defense, and aviation. As a Marine, he was very interested in the capabilities the V-22 Osprey helicopter offered, writing a monograph on the Osprey published by the Center for Defense Information in September of 2006, and later was asked to come to Washington the following January to give a briefing. He wrote book reviews and more than 100 articles on Hemingway, Keats, Melville, the V-22, aviation and defense issues in publications ranging from the English Journal and 20th Century Literature to MIT Technology Review, Naval Institute Proceedings, Chicago Tribune, Jane’s Defense Weekly, and the Seattle Times. He was a member of the Franklin Inn Club in Philadelphia, Rotary International in Saranac Lake, New York, and the Eugene Round Table Club in Eugene, Oregon.

Lee was also a man of deep faith. He was baptized at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in New York City and attended Episcopal churches throughout his adult life. At both St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Saranac Lake, and St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Eugene, he served as Lector (reader) as well as making many other contributions to the life of the churches.

Lee lived with such spirit and integrity that the next generations of his family lead better lives because of his example of what it means to be a man. Although upright and introverted, he was also a loving and romantic soul. His honesty, humor, poetry, intelligence, kindness and willingness to lead when leadership was in short supply were like a shining shuttle weaving his wisdom, understanding, and compassion--swift, sure and strengthening--into the fabric of our lives.

A service in Thanksgiving of Lee’s life will be held on Monday, June 30th at 11 a.m. at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Eugene. In lieu of flowers, donations in Lee’s memory may be made to the St. Thomas Memorial Fund or to the Eugene Mission.