Teresa (nee Bandyk) Gillis passed away March 14, 2026, at the age of 95.
Born Oct. 8, 1930, in Detroit to John and Mary Bandyk, Teresa was the youngest of ten children preceded in death by six sisters and three brothers. She graduated from Holy Redeemer High School in 1949.
Teresa was a life-long devout Catholic; attending daily mass and praying for many others’ needs (especially her children who swear there was a hierarchy to her addressing prayer requests.) Teresa also prayed the rosary daily and was fond of watching the Mass-for-the-Shut-ins on the rare occasions she was unable to attend in person…usually due to bad weather. For most that knew her, Teresa was the go-to authority on anything related to the Catholic Church and loved researching the answers in her wide variety of reference materials on various religious topics.
Not surprisingly, Teresa chose a career that aligned with her faith as a secretary for the Archdiocese of Detroit at the Chancery Building downtown within the current Cardinal’s office. She remained in that job for an impressive 50 years. Teresa met her husband Gorman Gillis while working there. Story has it that Gorman was sent to Teresa’s office (often?) to fix “broken blinds” by Gorman’s father, Frank Gillis, who also worked in the same building. They were married soon after in 1953. Unfortunately for Teresa, company policy at the time didn’t allow married women to work in the office and she chose to “work from home” before it was popular. We fondly remember her typing up not only envelopes and letters for the Cardinal, but just about every report we wrote for school. Our own private secretary.
So with a new young Catholic marriage came children. Mr. and Mrs. Gorman Gillis were blessed with 10 children from 1954 through 1975.
Even with an eventual household of twelve people, Teresa openly welcomed her widowed mother to live with all of us for 20 years! We called her Busia (Polish for grandma.) Trust that the house was filled with love while limited in space and soundtracked by a whole lot of music created up in the attic by the boys. Busia never complained, but she did hide a couple drumsticks in her dresser drawer that weren’t found until after her passing in 1987.
Teresa Gillis is preceded in death by her husband Gorman [2006] and her eldest son Raymond [2011]. She is survived by Maureen, Anne [Tom], Stephen [Graciela], Joseph [Robin], Barbara [Randy], Leo [Kate], Edward [Angela], Alan [Bonnie], and Jack [Olivia]. She also had 19 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, all of whose photos are lovingly displayed individually on Teresa’s dining room wall. This ever-changing art installation is kept up-to-date with current school pictures for the great-grandkids and candid shots for the adult grandkids.
There were two of Teresa’s interests of significance… crossword puzzles and jigsaw puzzles. We believe these kept her mind sharp and brought her joy. Sunday was a typical open house at grandma’s with all the family getting involved. With a pot of chicken noodle soup simmering on the stove, crossword puzzles were a team effort where we would hope to add at least ONE word to claim we contributed. Jigsaw puzzles were constantly displayed and worked on by all. With the eventual development of macular degeneration, those puzzles faded from view, if ever so slightly.
Things you might not know… she was a self-proclaimed non-cook but made a helluva turkey meal come Thanksgiving that we always enjoyed eating on the “real” china. Teresa was also fond of religious items: prayer books, relics, crosses, religious art, angels and a variety of saint medals. If you were pregnant, mom surely gave you a St. Gerard medal to clip to your mattress or wear around your neck throughout the pregnancy. And sure enough, all of us had successful births…whether it was the medals or her prayers we’ll never know. As far as we know, our mom was never hospitalized outside of her pregnancies and equally was never sick.
We don’t even need it confirmed that she had on her cloth brown scapular when she closed her eyes for the last time. For reference, this is a Catholic sacramental representing devotion to Mary, which carries promises of protection in life and safe passage to heaven, most notably the promise that those wearing it at death will be saved.
There is absolutely no doubt that whether she was wearing a scapular or not, this blessed, kind and generous woman’s soul is what she prayed for and had received. Rest in peace Teresa and Godspeed.
A visitation for FRIENDS AND FAMILY ONLY will be held on Wednesday, March 18, 2026 at the L.J. Griffin Funeral Home, 7707 Middlebelt Road (S. of Ann Arbor Trail), from 1:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. with a Rosary at 7:00 p.m.
Teresa will lie instate at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, March 19, 2026 at St. Genevieve-St. Maurice Catholic Church, 29015 Jamison, Livonia, until the time of her funeral mass at 11:00 a.m.
She will be laid to rest by her husband’s side at St. Hedwig Cemetery.
The family appreciates all the condolences and expressions of sympathy. If you would like to do something in their honor, the family kindly requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Capuchin Soup Kitchen.
Share your condolences or a special memory with the family on the Guestbook Page.
This obituary was first published on the website of Griffin Funeral Home.
