Gillins Combine Musical, Creative Skills to Contribute to Galveston County Area

By Ruth Ann Ruiz

The Post Newspaper Features Editor

They graduated from the same high school, but it took them a couple decades to find love with each other.

“I was a nerd,” said Sharon B. Gillins. “I was very studious and not very popular. My mom was very strict with me, she wouldn’t let me hang out,” she explained.

Curtis Gillins was a drummer throughout junior high and high school. 

Her focus on learning and her mother’s attention to keeping her focused paid off as she attended Howard University and spent a great deal of her adult life living and working in the Washington, D.C. area. “I finished my master’s degree in Instructional Systems Design,” said Sharon. With her degree she developed instructional materials.

Meanwhile, her future husband was living the laidback lifestyle of Southern California, playing music, and working at shipyards before moving into the airline industry. 

Her career took her to Riverside Community College in California, where she became one of the pioneers in distant learning. “I taught classes remotely,” said Sharon. 

It wasn’t all work and no play for adult Sharon. She allowed herself to attend music festivals, which is how she reconnected with Curtis.

“He was playing at an African music festival, and he said he recognized me,” said Sharon.

He remembered her very well, he didn’t just recognize her. “I had always had my eyes on her ever since high school, but I was a chicken to approach her than,” said Curtis. “She was a popular girl, and I wasn’t that popular,” he added.  

They exchanged phone numbers and stayed in touch from their encounter at the festival in the 90’s. It wasn’t till 2000 that they began dating and they were married in 2001. She has one adult son, and he has one adult son.

Back to their high school graduation. Mr. and Mrs. Gillins, who were both seemingly not popular at school, were making history as they were part of the first fully integrated class to graduate from Ball High School in 1969. 

As a married couple they were enjoying life in sunny Southern California. But when his parents needed him and her mother needed her, they came back home to Galveston. “I’m so glad we moved back, I spent a lot of time with them in their last days,” said Curtis.

Opening up Y’Bon Coffee House on 29^th and Market Street was something they worked on together in the mid 2000’s. They used the term “house” rather than “shop” like you would find in Amsterdam. “We were young, we had energy and stars in our eyes,” said Sharon as she thinks back to her mid-50-year-old self. 

Then Hurricane Ike happened. Between the task of restoring their own home on the west side of Galveston and caring for her mom and her home on the east side of town, they didn’t have time or resources to reopen their flooded-out coffee house. 

Their west end home was above ground but not high enough. They were issued a government trailer where they lived on their property for a little over a year till the home was raised and repaired. 

Curtis got bored hanging out in the trailer and dealing with repairs, so he planned a trip to South Africa. He now goes on a frequent basis serving as a tour guide for others who want to go along with him. 

Sharon had no time for boredom because she was busy with learning more about her family history and helping others to learn their family’s histories. She remembers being captivated with family history since she was a child. “I was really drawn to the family quilts and handkerchiefs when I was a little girl,” she said. 

It was in 1992 when her father wrote out a list of the family names and handed it to her that she began to think of digging deeper into the past. “When my father died, I had that paper of all the family names he could remember and I just felt like I had been appointed the family historian,” said Sharon.

She started by asking family members questions. Then she branched out to the public library. With each new discovery, Sharon was led to another discovery. Her mother’s family began their American legacy in North Carolina while her father’s family began their journey to the United States in Louisiana. 

Through her personal interest, she has developed a set of knowledge and skills which she shares with others who are on their own family history quest. She is often called on as a guest speaker at seminars and conferences for her expertise in genealogy. 

She provides coaching to individuals but does not do the research for them. “I think genealogy is a personal journey and the satisfaction of the journey is finding your own family stories,” explained Sharon. 

During February, which is Black History Month, Sharon is kept busy with numerous local speaking engagements. Curtis is equally busy with music gigs. If you want to hear him play, come on down to Yagas in Galveston on February 25 and 26. He’ll be the guy playing drums with the band. 

“We play in the evening,” said Curtis. 

Keep in mind, if you decide to check out his drumming skills, Mardi Gras will be in full swing.