Tim Gillaspie, SVHS ‘93, called a ‘hero’ in Santa Rosa shooting

When the October wildfires threatened his Rincon Valley neighbors’ homes, Tim Gillaspie sent his family to safety while he hung back to keep watch on things.

Every day his neighborhood was evacuated, the 1993 Sonoma Valley High grad drove down its deserted streets, checking on friends’ homes, taking photographs and keeping everyone updated.

Depending on what the wind was doing, Gillaspie headed out multiple times a day, going down the list he kept of friends’ properties threatened by the wildfires surging just over the ridge.

One of the homes he was keeping tabs on was Aram Bronston’s on Garfield Park Avenue, in a quiet family neighborhood in northeast Santa Rosa.

Gillaspie worked at PG&E for 13 years, and as a lineman based in Santa Rosa, he was one of the first on the scene in the wake of the wildfires, taking his truck out and getting started on repairs even before being asked by his employer, Bronston said.

“That’s just the guy he was,” Bronston said. “He would never expect anything back, never ask. It was just, ‘Hey, here you go. Here’s my heart.’?”

Gillaspie, 43, died Sunday at Bronston’s house protecting the people he loved.

When a disgruntled man armed with guns and bombs stormed the dinner party he was attending with his wife and two boys, Gillaspie confronted the shooter, police said. He was shot multiple times while trying to stop the suspect, who was searching for his estranged wife, from entering the home.

Walter Ross, 65, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, shot himself in the head as officers were approaching the chaotic scene at the Garfield Park Avenue home the evening of June 24, Santa Rosa police said. He never regained consciousness and died Sunday, July 2.

Santa Rosa Police Lt. John Cregan called Gillaspie “a true hero.”

Born in Honolulu on Nov. 29, 1974, Gillaspie spent much of his childhood in Sonoma County, where he graduated from SVHS in 1993. At 6-foot-4, he spent a year playing basketball at College of Marin as a power forward before transferring to Santa Rosa Junior College.

He left Sonoma County for South Dakota shortly thereafter to spend time with his ailing father, and while on a brief trip back to Santa Rosa to visit friends in August 1999 he met the love of his life, then named Katrina Barclay.

For their first date, he made her a dish of pasta primavera - a recipe learned from his time working at Mary’s Pizza Shack. The two had been together ever since.

“Tim was one of those guys that every guy is like, ‘God, I want to be like that,’?” Bronston said. “A great dad, great husband, great coach, always giving back to the community.”

Always smiling and with a great sense of humor, Gillaspie and his boys would pitch in on neighborhood projects, and friends didn’t even have to ask for help, Bronston said.

“I can’t believe he’s not going to show up and play doorbell ditch at my house anymore,” he said.

“I’m not going to look out the kitchen window and see his face, wanting to know if it’s time to hang out in the backyard and have a beer.”

As a coach for Rincon Valley Little League, North Bay CYO Basketball and Redwood PAL Golden Bears youth football, Gillaspie was beloved and respected, not just for the attention he paid to the kids, especially those who struggled a little more than the rest, but also for the calming presence he brought to the occasional overzealous coach or parent in the stands, said Bronston, who witnessed it firsthand.

“Everything was hunky-dory whenever he was there,” Bronston said. “Everything was always smooth, and people were reminded that the point of the day was to laugh and have fun and do the right thing. ... He was always a really, really excellent example, a phenomenal role model for all the kids.”

He was deeply involved in the parents club at Sequoia Elementary, where his youngest son will enter the sixth grade in the fall, said his friend, Jeremy De La Torre.

“He loved his wife and boys so much,” De La Torre said. “Being around that energy and living life with someone that loves their family like you love yours just makes you feel good and blessed, and that everything is going to be OK. There are no words to properly convey how much that he is going to be missed.”

Gillaspie is survived by his wife, Katrina Gillaspie, 38; sons Conner Gillaspie, 14; and Shane Gillaspie, 11; sister Connie Ferguson, 33, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota; brother John Dale Gillaspie, 39, of Kingman, Arizona; and mother Iris Gillaspie, 63, of Santa Rosa. He was preceded in death by his father, Conrad Joseph Gillaspie.

A celebration of life will be held at noon next Friday at the Santa Rosa Veterans Memorial Building, 1351 Maple Ave.

A memorial fund for his family has been established with Redwood Credit Union. Anyone wishing to make a donation may call 800-479-7928 or make it out to the Memorial Account for Tim Gillaspie and mail it to P.O. Box 6104, Santa Rosa, CA 95406.