Short biography of Gilley Graham

Short biography of Gilley Graham

Written by David Barth following conversations with Gilley in August 2008

This is a story that had to be written because it is so interesting. However, because of the limited time that Gilley could relate his life story (two attractive women wanted to take him to lunch) this author has had to fill in the blanks with what he thinks is the truth. Apologies if there are errors. Corrections are welcomed.

Gilley was born in Northern Ireland on February 12, 1927 to an upper-middle class family. When he was still young, his parents sent him to formal dance training, and ballroom dancing would become a lifelong enjoyment of his. He continued his classical ballroom dance training throughout his life, and he came to master the formal style.

In his youth, Gilley demonstrated an interest in machines and how they worked. After high school he continued his schooling and received degrees in mechanical and electrical engineering from a university in Ireland. Gilley decided he wanted to learn more, and he went to London to continue his studies and eventually received an advanced degree in mechanical engineering. This was during post-war Europe, around 1950, when jobs were scarce. Gilley decided to become an engineering apprentice, learning tool and die making. This was low-tech work that was below Gilley's engineering capabilities, and he decided that the United States offered the best jobs. He had heard a lot about Americans, and much of it was negative, but he decided to go, anyway. He convinced a friend, who was also an engineer, to go along with him on the trip.

In preparation for the adventure, Gilley used his considerable engineering talents to design and build a trailer that had most of the conveniences of a home and many automatic devices. He and his friend purchased a lot of food and packed it into the trailer. They wanted to be as self-sufficient as possible.

They had the trailer loaded onto a tramp steamer and landed in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Instead of getting a job right away, they decided to travel around the U.S. and see the sights. In 1955, when they reached San Diego, they checked the amount of money they had left and decided it was time to get jobs. After reviewing his considerable engineering training, Gilley was hired by Convair (formerly Consolidated Vultee, the famous maker of seaplanes during WW II). He were assigned to the engineering staff developing the 440, Convair's first jet transport that competed with the Douglas DC-8 and the Boeing 707.

At Convair, Gilley earned a high salary, and after two years, he decided to quit and enjoy surfing for a while. His engineering instincts led him to design a new type of surfboard. While looking for thermal measuring devices to monitor the curing of the foam-core boards, he visited a small company that specialized in manufacturing electronic equipment. The owner of the company told Gilley that it had hired a Ph.D. engineer to develop a thermal measuring device and the engineer had not succeeded after two years.

Gilley knew how to design such a device, and had a developed a prototype for the company within a couple of weeks. He made enough money working at that company to drop the surf board project, quit working, and party. In 1961, when money ran low once again, Gilley contacted an engineering recruiter, a big Texan. He told the Texan that he wanted a job where he could ski and party. These were the days of the cold war, following the launch of the Russian satellite, Sputnik, and the U.S. was frantically trying to catch up to the Russians in technology. Engineers were in high demand and good ones, like Gilley, could get jobs with nearly any high-tech company.

A few days later, the Texan called Gilley and told him to interview with an obscure company in Brigham City, Utah by the name of Thiokol, which was virtually unknown except in government agencies involved in rockets and missiles. Gilley packed up and headed for Utah. On the day he was supposed to interview, he decided to check out the Alta ski area, instead. The next day he went to the address he had been given and arrived at a former grocery store that had the windows covered on the inside with paper so that no one could see inside.

He went in and the receptionist told him that they had been expecting him the day before. He interviewed and was immediately offered a job. When the interview was over, Gilley asked what the company did. The interviewer was incredulous that Gilley didn't know. He said that Thiokol was developing a solid fuel intercontinental ballistic missile called Minuteman.

Up to now, all intercontinental missiles were liquid fueled because it was difficult to get solid fuel rocket to lift and deliver 14 multiple independent reentry vehicle (MIRV) warheads over long distances. The problem with liquid fuel missiles, such as the Atlas, was that the time required to launch them was about 45 minutes. The hope was that Thiokol could develop a solid fuel rocket that could be launched within a minute. It was believed that the Russians had not been able to build a solid fuel rocket with intercontinental capability.

Gilley was given responsibility for acquiring parts and subassemblies to build the Minuteman. When a certain nozzle component wasn't available, Gilley designed the part and had it manufactured. When the rocket had been successfully completed, Gilley quit Thiokol and headed back to the west coast.

He liked the west coast and made a list of four places that he would like to live, and he analyzed them to determine the best of them. The possibilities were San Francisco, San Diego, Newport Beach, and Santa Barbara. He chose Santa Barbara and in 1965 bought a small bungalow for $1,000 that had originally been built after WW II as housing for servicemen returning from the war.

Gilley found that General Motors (GM) was hiring engineers for its defense subsidiary. The federal government had complained to GM that it had been concentrating its business too much on building automobiles and not enough on defense projects. This complaint resulted in GM ramping up its defense arm in Santa Barbara. After talking to Gilley, GM hired him. Gilley never had written a resume. All he had to do was discuss his talents with a hiring person, and he always got the job.

At GM, Gilley fulfilled a similar function to what he had done for Thiokol: acquiring critical subassemblies and components. This work required him to travel extensively. He was given the authority to sign multi-million dollar contracts for subcontracting work. He found that some contractors wanted to give him gifts, but he resisted all attempts to sway his contract decisions to maintain fairness. Some gifts that were offered to him were worth thousands of dollars.

One of the more interesting projects he developed was a seaborne sensing system that allowed the military to track naval exercises. It consisted of many sound sensing nodes in a large grid that floated just above the sea floor. Each sensor could pick up a multitude of sound frequencies so that electronic devices could identify every type of article in the water including the type of surface ships, submarines, and torpedoes. All of the data was collected from the sensing devices, processed, and displayed on a huge screen that top military leaders could view to assess the exercise and analyze strategy. The whole operation was in Hawaii, and it covered many square miles of ocean. Of course, Gilley's work was highly classified.

During his employment by GM, Gilley earned a very high salary, and in 1967 he began acquiring real estate in the Santa Barbara area. Around 1992, when he retired from GM, Gilley owned in excess of $10 million in California property.

All through his working years and into retirement, Gilley continued to enjoy ballroom dancing. One of his partners was Gail Delaney, a very attractive, ebullient, and outgoing woman who always maintained an exquisite figure that, as she got older, belied her age. Gail had a PhD in psychology and she practiced as a psychologist in the same building where her husband was a psychiatrist. He referred cases to her when it was warranted. Gail's specialty was human interaction and dream analysis. They lived in a beautiful home in California, but eventually divorced. She was an author and was in demand on the speaking circuit.

She enjoyed ballroom dancing with Gilley, and they became very good friends. When Gilley took up ice skating in the late 1950s, she also began to skate. They began to ice dance together and they got very accomplished in that sport.

On one occasion, when she was giving a speech, she asked Gilley to attend. He arrived at the auditorium, took his seat, and listened to the lengthy introduction for her that included her considerable accomplishments. Then Gail walked across the stage to the podium, held her hand above her eyes to better see the audience, and asked if Gilley Graham was in the audience. Gilley was surprised, and he remained sitting in shocked silence. Then she asked again if Gilley Graham was in the audience and if he would please stand up. Gilley rose to his feet, and Gail said, "I would like to introduce to you my ice dancing partner!" The audience erupted in applause.

Gilley was also Gail's favorite ballroom dancing partner. He taught her the fine points of classical ballroom dancing, and she became such a good dancer that Gilley once commented that although she had a lot to learn, she was better than a famous dance instructor who had trained him in Europe.

Gilley was 22 years Gail's senior, and eventually, he stopped ice dancing. When he stopped, Gail stopped too. She never skated with another partner. She knew she would never be able to find as good an ice dancing partner as Gilley. Instead of dancing on ice, Gail took up freestyle skating, a pursuit in which she became very proficient.

Asked if he had ever considered "hooking up" with Gail after her divorce, Gilley replied, "Only for a moment." Gail was the type of woman who always knew exactly what she wanted to do, and she did it. To say she was head-strong might be too harsh, but she didn't let anything get in the way of what she did. Gilley was a bit too independent to want to accept the give-and-take required in another marriage. He had been married for 15 years, but his wife had died.

In his retirement, as a very accomplished ice dancer, Gilley knew that a critical component of ice dancing was the sharpness of the skate blade and the curve. He began designing a blade sharpener that would put a nice edge on a skate without messing it up by changing the curvature of the blade.

Ultimately, Gilley succeeded in designing and building a prototype, but even though his sharpener was a technical masterpiece, no manufacturer bought it to put into production. The result is that Gilley has his own unique, personal skate sharpener that he often carries in the trunk of his car.

For nearly half a century, Gilley has enjoyed going to Sun Valley for a couple of months during the summer to enjoy ice dancing on the outdoor rink. The rink is situated on the back lawn of the Sun Valley Lodge and has black netting stretched above the ice surface to keep direct sunlight off of it. The cooling system to maintain solid ice, even in 100 degree weather, is a major engineering tour de force. Huge cooling towers stand behind the skate office to keep the ice cool even on the warmest days.

Another of Gilley's enjoyments has been going to Club Med Resorts and on ocean cruises. He usually takes a girlfriend along to keep him company. Gilley is never without a girl to be with whenever he wants. Throughout his life, Gilley has loved to party, and his engaging personality makes him the center of attention everywhere he goes. It is as if he never met a stranger. When female ice skating stars go to Sun Valley to perform, giving Gilley a big hug is always at the top of their list. He gets hugged by the beautiful girls and the other guys envy him and wonder, "What's he got that I don't?"