Philanthropist, businessman David H. Gilmour, founder of Fiji Water company, dies at 92
David Harrison Gilmour, the Palm Beach philanthropist who founded the Fiji bottled water company, died June 11, 2023, of cardiac arrest.
He was 92. His business partner, David Roth, reported the death.
Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1931, he was the youngest of the four children of Adam Harrison Gilmour and Doris (née Godson) Gilmour, an operatic soprano who performed in Canada’s opera houses for many years.
Mr. Gilmour was a child when, in 1934, his father moved the family to Toronto, where he and his three sisters received their education. When he was 17, Mr. Gilmour's father offered him the option between enough cash to start his own company, or a daily stipend to travel in Europe. That stipend came with the condition that he travel alone, thus forcing him to interact with people he didn't know.
Mr. Gilmour would later describe that trip as the spark that lit his entrepreneurial fire.
He began his business career in Toronto when he created Dansk Design, an importer of Scandinavian home goods. On its heels came Clairtone, a manufacturer of what would come to be known as the boombox, which he co-founded with Peter Munk. Later, the two bought property in Fiji and established the Southern Pacific Hotel Corp.
Other successful business ventures followed, including real estate and even gold mining.
Mr. Gilmour later bought the private island of Wakaya in Fiji and opened The Wakaya Club & Spa luxury resort.
In 1996 he established Fiji Water LLC, which, less than a decade later, was the fastest-growing premium beverage company in the United States. More recently, he founded a wellness company called Wakaya Perfection that specializes in anti-inflammatory products.
Mr. Gilmour was an active philanthropist with a particular interest in the education of at-risk preschoolers.
Locally, he and his second wife Jillian donated more than $12 million to Opportunity Early Childhood Education & Family Center for a new campus and support services. The facility is named The Erin H. Gilmour Early Learning Center in memory of Mr. Gilmour's only child, who, in 1983, was stabbed to death in her apartment. She was 22.
The case remained unsolved for almost 40 years. Last year, genetic genealogy led to the arrest of a suspect in her killing.
In Palm Beach, Mr. Gilmour was a member of the Everglades Club and The Society of the Four Arts.
Elsewhere, he was a member of the Emerald Dunes Golf Club in West Palm Beach; The Brook Club in New York; and Deepdale Golf Club in Manhasset, N.Y.
In addition to his wife of 43 years, Mr. Gilmour is survived by his nieces Sheila Stene, Kristin Basso, Diana Sutton, Vanessa Vansittart, and Katharine Vansittart; and his dear friends Eva and Herb Jacobi of Palm Beach.
In keeping with Mr. Gilmour's expressed wishes “to go gently into the night,” he was cremated and no funeral services are planned. Memorials may be made to the David H. Gilmour Memorial Fund at Opportunity Early Childhood Education & Family Center.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach Obituary: Fiji Water founder David H. Gilmour dies at 92
