Richard W. Gillett, Jr. (Rick) passed away on May 6, 2024, after a brief hospital stay in Woodruff, WI.  Rick was born on December 28, 1948, to Richard W. Gillett Sr. and Ramona (Hafeman) Gillett, in Eau Claire, WI.  He attended Boyd elementary school, Central junior high, and graduated from Memorial high school in 1967.  After high school, Rick attended the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh for two years and then transferred to the University of Wisconsin Madison, where he graduated in December of 1972.

During his last year of college, Rick worked part-time for the J.C. Penney Company, and upon graduation, was recruited for their management training program.  In 1974, he was offered a management position with the H.C. Prange Company and joined their management team in opening a new department store in Rockford, Illinois.  In 1977 he moved to Green Bay, WI, to accept an assistant buying position with Prange’s and was soon promoted to buyer for the home store division.  He was a buyer with Prange’s and resided in Green Bay until 1983, when he was recruited by the Kohl’s Corporation of Brookfield, WI, to be a senior buyer for their home store division.  

He worked for Kohl’s until 1986, when a new opportunity arose to take a senior position with an import company based in New York.  He would soon rename the company Over and Back, Inc., and under Rick’s guidance and direction, Over and Back grew into a multi-million dollar import company specializing in tabletop ware and accessories, home décor products, and simultaneously, decorative garden ware products.  Through his innate talent, Rick was able to anticipate changing trends in the housewares and garden industries and continually generated fresh ideas for creative new products.  His responsibilities included product development, sourcing of manufacturers in Europe and Asia for Over and Back products, overseeing and trouble-shooting the import process, as well as representing the company and managing sales of Over and Back products to large and small retailers, both domestic and international.  He developed and maintained business relationships with major department stores and companies such as Costco, Costco UK, Walmart, Target, Macy’s, Dillard’s, and many others.  Over a period of 30 plus years, his position required extensive travel to Europe and Asia, which he continued to do until his retirement at the end of 2022.  

When not traveling for business, Rick enjoyed spending time at his home on Little Spider Lake in Arbor Vitae, WI, and prior to that on Ballard Lake in Star Lake, WI.  He especially enjoyed taking his 1941 antique Chris Craft runabout for a spin on the lake.  Over the years, he and his family had many good times at “the lake.”

Rick is survived by Vicki (Lundholm) Gillett, also a Memorial High School graduate, whom he married in 1972.  They were married until 2007.  She now lives in Crossville, TN.  Rick is further survived by his sister, Susan Murphy of Green Bay, WI, his nephews Brian (Michelle) Murphy of Minnetrista, MN, and Christopher (Marisa) Murphy of San Mateo, CA, along with his great nieces and nephews Oliver and Campbell, and Max and Addie.  He was preceded in death by his parents, Richard (Dick) and Mona Gillett.  Per Rick’s wishes, no funeral service was held.  The family planned to celebrate his life at a later date in a private gathering.