IUP Athletic Hall of Fame
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Donald Gill enrolled at Indiana State Teachers College after serving four years in the U.S. Navy and was a standout on the Indian football team, serving as team captain in 1961 before embarking on a long and distinguished career as a business leader and entrepreneur.
Gill received his bachelor's degree he head football coach before leaving to begin a career in explosives. He was a sales representative for Atlas Chemical Industries, a full-line manufacturer of explosives, and later became 50 percent owner of Amos L. Dolby Company, an explosives distributorship in Clarion, Pa.
He took over sole ownership of the business when his partner passed away, and Gill oversaw an aggressive expansion that saw Amos L. Dolby grow from 15 to 60 employees and a fleet of 70 trucks while opening new branches in Tunnelton and Burgettstown.
Gill served on the board of directors of the Institute of the Makers of Explosives in Washington, D.C., and was one of the founders of the Nobel Insurance Company, serving on its board for eight years. In 1988, he and his partners formed Auto Group Enterprises and bought automobile dealerships in Clarion and State College.
He divested himself of all his holdings except for real estate and retired to Naples, Fla., in 1999. In 2005, IUP honored Gill as a recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award.
Gill had three children with his wife, Lorna - daughters Shonna and Kelly and son Donald Ill. Gill passed away on October 9, 2009 following a lengthy illness.
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