Edward Gilman Dead at 92

By LISA CORYELL
Staff Writer, Trenton Times

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

Edward Gilman, a driving force behind building a permanent home for the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, died Monday. He was 91.

As chairman of TASK's board trustees in the late 1980s, the soft-spoken Gilman worked tirelessly to raise funds for a new soup kitchen.

Until then, TASK had endured a nomadic existence, moving from one rental space to another, at one point serving meals in a parking lot.

"There wouldn't be a soup kitchen, as we know it today, if it weren't for Ed," said Steve Leder, a former TASK trustee who served with Gilman.

Under Gilman's guidance, TASK raised $600,000 to build a soup kitchen on a plot of land on Escher Street donated by the city.

In 1991 the building was dedicated and named "Gilman-Stanley" in honor of him and the Rev. Arthur L. Stanley, the founder of TASK. The first meal was served from the new facility on July 22, 1991. Today, the facility serves 170,000 meals a day and provides assistance with tutoring, housing, health care and employment.

"He was a visionary, a founder," said Peter Wise, director of TASK. "I'm deeply indebted to him for his leadership in the early days in starting TASK. The mission continues thanks to people like them."

The Newtown, Pa., resident, formerly of Pennington, was born in Kiangsi, China, and graduated from Montclair High School and Brown University. He moved to Pennington in 1975 and was an active member of Pennington Presbyterian Church.

Gilman served in the U.S. Navy during World War II as a commanding officer of gun crews on Merchant Marine ships.

After years working for the New York Susquehanna and Western Railroad, Gilman joined the New Jersey Department of Transportation as a supervising analyst, where he remained until 1983.

It was after his retirement that Gilman became involved with TASK.

"He was a soft-spoken man," said Irwin Stoolmacher, a longtime local fund raiser. "He never yelled, but he was determined, very methodical and genuinely committed to seeing that TASK had a permanent home."

Gilman is survived by his wife of 62 years, Priscilla Thomas Gilman; three children, Thomas of Moorestown, Edward "Ted" of Greenwich, Conn., and Joyce Gilman Liljeholm of Portland, Ore.; and four grandchildren.

Donations in Gilman's memory may be made to TASK, P.O. Box 872, Trenton, N.J. 08605.

The memorial service is at 10:30 a.m. Saturday in Penn Hall at Pennswood Village, 1382 Newtown-Langhorne Road, Newtown, Pa.