Piermont, NH - William P 'Bill' Gilbert, 89, of Cape Moonshine Rd, passed away Monday March 30 2020, at home surrounded by his family, after a short, brave battle with pancreatic cancer.

He was born 10/18/1930 in Vineland, NJ, the son of William J 'Pop' Gilbert and Mary Ellen 'Nell' Bray. He grew up in Summit, NJ and graduated from Admiral Farragut Academy in Pine Beach, NJ. He then joined the Navy and served as a photographer stationed on the USS Bennington for the Mediterranean Tour 1953-4. After the Navy, he attended the School of Modern Photography of NY. He also handled his father's Great Danes at dog shows. On 3/13/1955, he married the love of his life, Virginia C Betz, moved to Whitehouse Station, NJ and lived in a trailer on his parents kennel farm where they had their first child, Sheryl Lynn. They moved to Plainfield, NJ and had two more children Lauren Jeanne and Bradley William. The family then moved to a home Bill proudly designed himself and built in Somerville, NJ. In the mid 1960's, under the guidance of Evelyn Shafer, he went from 'leash to lens' and became an official dog show photographer. He traveled the northeast almost every weekend taking award presentation photos and doing portraits. After about 7 years in Somerville with the photo business in the garage, he moved the family to a farm in Stanton Station, Flemington, NJ to accommodate the growing business and there was room for the kids to have horses. In 1978, he designed and built a photography studio and facility in Ringoes, NJ. He retired in 1985 and moved to Hendersonville NC. They made several moves around NC and FL before settling in Tryon, NC where he and Ginny lived for 26 years. In 2016, they moved to Piermont, NH to live with their daughter Laurie and be closer to son Brad's family.

Bill always had a positive outlook on life and a can-do attitude. He loved fast cars and driving, especially his Sunbeam Tiger. Above all, he loved his family. His family thanks him for a lifetime of memories filled with joy, sometimes sorrow, and everything in between. They will treasure his memory forever.

Bill is survived by his wife of 65 years Virginia and his children Sherry and her husband Mark of Indianapolis, In, Laurie of Piermont, NH and Brad and his wife Pam of N Haverhill, NH, four grandchildren Will, Evan and Brenna Gilbert of N Haverhill, NH and Ashley Robinson of Indianapolis, IN. He is also survived by his brother-in-law Fred Betz and wife Sue of MD, his sister-in-law Beverly Bergmann of CA and his sister-in-law Jo Gilbert of FL and a number of nieces and nephews.

Bill is predeceased by his parents, a brother John 'Jack' Gilbert and sister Margaret Levitt.

A Celebration of Life memorial service will be held this summer.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Wounded Warriors Project (www.woundedwarriorproject.org) or to the AKC's Take The Lead ( https://takethelead.org )