Roxane Gatling Gilmore (June 17, 1954 – August 7, 2024) was an American educator, professor and academic. She served as

First Lady of Virginia The spouse of the Governor of Virginia is given an honorary position, styled as First Lady or First Gentleman of the Commonwealth of Virginia. To date there have been no female governors of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and all first spouses hav ...

from 1998 to 2002 as the wife of

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Jim Gilmore James Stuart Gilmore III (born October 6, 1949) is an American politician, diplomat and former attorney who served as the 68th governor of Virginia from 1998 to 2002. A member of the Republican Party, Gilmore also chaired the Republican Nation ...

and oversaw the restoration of

Virginia Governor's Mansion The Virginia Governor's Mansion, better known as the Executive Mansion, is located in Richmond, Virginia, on Capitol Square and serves as the official residence of the governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Designed by Alexander Parris, it ...

, the longest continually occupied governor’s residence in the United States. While holding the role of first lady, Gilmore continued her work as a

classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

professor at Randolph–Macon College, becoming the first First Lady in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

's history to actively maintain her own independent, professional career during her tenure.

Biography

Early life and education

Gilmore was born Roxane Gatling on June 17, 1954. Her father, George Gatling, was a Virginia highway department road inspector and a descendent of Richard Jordan Gatling, the inventor the

Gatling gun The Gatling gun is a rapid-firing multiple-barrel firearm invented in 1861 by Richard Jordan Gatling of North Carolina. It is an early machine gun and a forerunner of the modern electric motor-driven rotary cannon. The Gatling gun's operatio ...

. Her mother, Jane Gatling, was a schoolteacher. Gatling was diagnosed with

Hodgkin's disease Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a type of lymphoma in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, where multinucleated Reed–Sternberg cells (RS cells) are present in the lymph nodes. The condition was named a ...

while in high school, which required radiation treatment at a hospital in

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

. Her medical treatment forced her to quit the marching band and other extracurricular activities. She graduated from Suffolk High School in 1972 after the cancer went into remission. She enrolled at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

, where she pursued a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

, and

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

. There, she joined the Jefferson Literary and Debating Society, the oldest continuously existing collegiate debating society in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. In addition to its debates, the club was known for its keg parties and friendly heckling of debaters at its meetings. There, Roxane Gatling met her future husband, a Virginia law student named Jim Gilmore, at a debating society meeting in the Fall of 1974. Her Hodgkin's disease then returned during her senior year at college. Jim Gilmore accompanied her to chemotherapy treatments and hospitalizations. Gatling graduated from the University of Virginia in 1976. The Gilmores married on August 6, 1977. The couple had two sons, Jay Gilmore and Ashton Gilmore, In 1978, Gilmore received her

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

ancient history Ancient history is a time period from the History of writing, beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian language, ...

, also from the University of Virginia.

Career

Rozanne Gilmore forayed into politics, but ultimately foccused on her teaching career. She began teaching at Randolph–Macon College beginning in 1983 as a part-time professor. She then worked as a Latin teacher at public high schools in Chesterfield and Henrico counties before returning to Randolph-Macon. Roxane Gilmore later became a

professor at Randolph–Macon College in Ashland, Virginia, where she taught

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and a range of courses, including

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

and

Roman history The history of Rome includes the history of the Rome, city of Rome as well as the Ancient Rome, civilisation of ancient Rome. Roman history has been influential on the modern world, especially in the history of the Catholic Church, and Roman la ...

and

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

, women in ancient literature, the history of

Roman Britain Roman Britain was the territory that became the Roman province of ''Britannia'' after the Roman conquest of Britain, consisting of a large part of the island of Great Britain. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. Julius Caes ...

, and

epic poetry In poetry, an epic is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. With regard t ...

. She also worked with the

Virginia Department of Education The Virginia Department of Education is the state education agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is headquartered in the James Monroe Building in Richmond. The department is headed by the Secretary of Education (currently Aimee Guidera) ...

to create an

online database In computing, a database is an organized collection of Data (computing), data or a type of data store based on the use of a database management system (DBMS), the software that interacts with end users, Application software, applications, and ...

of educational resources for students, teachers, businesses, and parents. Upon becoming Virginia's first lady in 1998, Gilmore chose to actively continuing teaching at Randolph-Macon, becoming the first First Lady in state history to retain her own, independent career during her tenure. In a 1998 interview with the ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'',

Larry Sabato Larry Joseph Sabato (; born August 7, 1952) is an American political scientist and political analyst. He is the Robert Kent Gooch Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia, where he is also the founder and director of the Center for ...

of the

University of Virginia Center for Politics The University of Virginia Center for Politics (CfP) is a nonpartisan institute at the University of Virginia. Based in Charlottesville, Virginia, the institute promotes the value of politics and the importance of civic engagement. It operates o ...

, explained that, by keeping her career, Gilmore broke the mold for her predecessors at the time, "We've never had a first lady like Roxane Gilmore. This is a very traditional state. She's the first of a kind...In other places, even

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

, this happened a long time ago...We've had some very good, very active first ladies like Jeannie Baliles. But their lives have always been defined by their husband's job. Roxane is the first with a completely independent identity." First Lady Roxane Gilmore oversaw the restoration of

, the longest continually occupied governor’s residence in the United States. The mansion, built in 1813, was in need of repairs and restoration work when Governor Gilmore took office in 1998. Roxane Gilmore researched and toured dozens of homes across Virginia and the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

to gather ideas that could be used in the renovations, including

Monticello Monticello ( ) was the primary residence and plantation of Thomas Jefferson, a Founding Father, author of the Declaration of Independence, and the third president of the United States. Jefferson began designing Monticello after inheriting l ...

, Kenmore, Wickham House, and the John Marshall House in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

. Gilmore and her family moved out in April 1998 once construction began and returned to governor's residence in November 1999 following its $5 million renovation. In 2012, Gilmore published a book, "Restoring the Virginia Governor’s House," describing her efforts to restore the mansion. Additionally, as first lady, Gilmore worked with the Jamestown Foundation and its excavations of colonial

Jamestown, Virginia The Jamestown settlement in the Colony of Virginia was the first permanent British colonization of the Americas, English settlement in the Americas. It was located on the northeast bank of the James River, about southwest of present-day Willia ...

. She also collaborated with the Virginia Tourism Corporation to promotion the state's cultural and recreational attractions. Roxane Gilmore died following a lengthy illness on August 7, 2024, at the age of 70, just one day after her 47th wedding anniversary. She is buried in Henrico County on August 17, 2024.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilmore, Roxane 1954 births 2024 deaths First ladies and gentlemen of Virginia Randolph–Macon College faculty Academics from Virginia Educators from Virginia Schoolteachers from Virginia University of Virginia alumni People from Suffolk, Virginia