Paul Crawford Gillette, M.D.

Paul Crawford Gillette, M.D., 70, passed away peacefully from complications related to heart disease and diabetes on Sunday, January 20, 2013.

A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Friday at the Speedway Club at Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Pediatric and Congenital Electrophysiology Society (PACES) in his honor where a fund will be established in his name (http://www.pediatricepsociety.org/), or the Flower Mound Animal Adoption Center where he found his beloved Cinnamon.

Paul was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on December 1, 1942. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his medical degree from the Medical University of South Carolina in 1969. He completed his pediatric residency and cardiology fellowship at Texas Children’s Hospital at Baylor in Houston where he practiced pediatric cardiology and electrophysiology until 1984. He served as the division director of pediatric cardiology at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, South Carolina, from 1984 until 1996. He moved to Fort Worth to be the medical director of cardiology at Cook Children’s Hospital until stepping down as director in 2007. He continued an active clinical practice in Denton and had recently retired after a long and illustrious career.

Paul was an internationally respected children’s heart specialist who cared for thousands of patients over the span of a 40-year career. He was a pioneer in children’s electrical heart disease and received the Pioneer in Pacing and Electrophysiology Award from the Heart Rhythm Society (formerly the North American Society of Pacing and Electrophysiology) in 1998 and the Founder’s Award from the Section on Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery of the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2009. He mentored many of the pediatric electrophysiology experts in the field today. Paul’s accomplishments were many and he was to be honored this coming May with the first Lifetime Achievement Award from the Pediatric and Congenital Electrophysiology Society (PACES) at the annual meeting of the Heart Rhythm Society in Denver, Colorado.

Paul was a devoted husband, father and grandfather who enjoyed sailing and being a devoted and enthusiastic NASCAR fan when he was not caring for his patients and their families.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Crawford P. and Eileen M. Gillette.

He is survived by Vicki Zeigler, his loving wife of 20 years; two daughters, Dr. Noelle Gillette Cloven (Patrick) and Catherine Michelle Horner (Kevin); four grandchildren, Andrew Horner and Devon, Nina and Patrick Cloven; loyal chocolate lab, Cinnamon; his sister, Patricia Weaver (Ed): and many devoted friends, colleagues and patients.