No public services are planned. She will be cremated.
Stormy was born on April 1, 1984, to Judy and Jerry Gillooly. Her childhood roots began in Carbon Cliff, IL and they later moved to Rapids City, IL in the summer of 1991, where she attended Riverdale Elementary School and Junior High.
Growing up an only child, she was her mother’s shadow as Judy was an amazing stay at home mom and homemaker. When she wasn’t attending school, you could find Stormy fishing off the banks of the Mississippi with her mother, camping in her backyard, or riding her beloved banana seat bike as far as the day would take her.
In 1999, the Gillooly family relocated to Silvis, where Stormy attended United Township High School. Unfortunately, it was around this time that Judy was diagnosed with cancer and Stormy decided to remove herself from school to focus her attention on caring for her mother. Sadly, in the summer of 2000, Stormy’s cherished mother passed away after a hard battle to the disease. Even though she tried to find comfort and solace from the love of her friends, Stormy considered herself to be alone in this world and for several years she was a bit of a recluse as she processed and dealt with navigating life with out her mother. In 2008, she reconnected with her father Jerry and worked towards building their relationship again. In November of 2009, Jerry unexpectedly passed away of a heart attack while working out of town. Stormy was devastated and left again trying to figure out what to do next.
Stormy was far more intelligent than what anyone would expect from her, and she absolutely loved learning new things, even going as far as teaching herself physics one year “for fun.” Stormy was the definition of an animal lover and avid supporter of rescuing anything four-legged that might need to be rescued. She never met an animal that wasn’t cute and that she didn’t need to take home with her.
Over the course of the past few years, Stormy’s health slowly declined, taking a tole on her physically and mentally, until it was finally discovered that she had been living with a 40 pound tumor in her abdomen. Stormy was finally on the road to recovery and planning her future that seemed to be shining bright and within her reach, when the universe had other plans, and it was time for her to be with her parents again.
Throughout her teens and short adulthood, Stormy did not always have it easy. Life can be unexplainably difficult at times, and she was no stranger to that, or to what it meant to struggle. Stormy was always unapologetically hard on herself which did not help in matters of dealing with what life had thrown her way. She was never a person who felt worthy or good enough and she was always those things. Stormy had a great sense of humor and was a simple woman who enjoyed simple things, like a fat joint and a pretty sunset with a fluffy cat to snuggle. Stormy’s friends were her family and she loved them as such and nothing less, even though in her eyes, she was underserving of them. Those who were lucky enough to know her, will miss her gypsy energy, contagious laughter, and sassy spirit.
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