GUS KOLILIS (Jan 1960)

After Gus Kolilus retired as a St. Louis detective, he was hired to investigate child abuse. While investigating a child’s death in rural Missouri, he found that the father had killed his child by throwing him against a wall.  As a result of that case and cases of multiple family homicides, a Child Fatality Review Board system was established and became a prototype of a system now repeated in forty-nine states.  Because of this system, child deaths trends have been identified and prevention programs in abuse, such as shaken baby syndrome, sleep safety and drowning babies, have been established.

The State Department of Health credits Gus with this reform, which is now national.  Gus was recently honored in Washington, D.C. as one of Missouri’s greatest champions for children.  He received the National Keeping Kids Alive Leadership Award.  This award was presented to him for his leadership in building and administering one of, if not the best, child fatality review and child investigation programs in the country.

Gus and his wife, Sally, lived in Columbia, Missouri where he had an office from which he worked in semi-retirement to help insure the safety and justice of our state’s children until his passing on February 4, 1981.

At RHS, Gus was on Student Council for three terms, Freshman Forum for two terms, Distributive Education Club President and received two Service R’s