A Pekin Park District Commissioner since 1993, Gary Gillis has been Board President twice, Park 4H representative, Special Recreation President of the Illinois River Valley SRA and Park Recreation Committee Chair. He helped pioneer the establishment of the Pekin Park District Foundation and currently serves as President. In 2002 he chaired the Park’s 100th Anniversary Celebration. He is currently a Master Board Member.  Gary served as President of the Pekin Rotary Club from 1987-88 and 2015-16 and is currently President of its charitable foundation, Pekin Rotary Charities. He is also Past-President of Pekin Main Street and was a member of Pekin’s Marigold Festival Committee from 1981 through 2017. In 2024 the Marigold Festival honored him by naming him its Grand Marshal.  He currently serves on the board of the Pekin Public Library and serves as Treasurer, a position he also holds on the Board of the Everett M. Dirksen Congressional Research Center. In 2024, he served as Co-Chairman of the Pekin Bicentennial Committee. He also received the "Community Hero Award” that year. In years past by earning Citizen of the Year and Business Leader of the Year Awards. In 2025 Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker appointed him to his Department of Natural Resources Advisory Board.  Gary has served on the Illinois Association of Park Districts Board of Trustees since 2018 and is the current Immediate Past Board Chairman in 2025.  He has served on the IPARKS Board since 2017. Professionally, he was a Financial Advisor with Edward Jones for over 40 years until he retired at the end of March 2019. During his tenure, he served in several leadership positions that included representing clients’ interests in Washington DC as part of the Grassroots Task Force.