Gary E. Gillespie, September 24, 1946 – March 11, 2026, joined his family and friends in Heaven. His son, Garland, was called in 1995 and his wife, Susie, followed in 2010.

Gary was very faithful to English Chapel UMC, working and attending there since 1982. He grew up in the Methodist faith, having attended Rosman Methodist Church with his parents, Johnnie and Marriah Gillespie, and his younger brother, Phillip, all who preceded him in death.
Andrew Scott Gillespie of Palm Bay, Florida is his surviving grandson. Andrew has a daughter, Alexandra Renee, whom Gary made it his mission for her to get to know him before he passed. Her older sister, Elizabeth Suzanne, lived only nine days in late 2013. Samantha Ritter, Andrew’s sister, also claimed Gary as a grandfather – “Pap”.

Gary would tell you and anyone he met, that he was blessed beyond measure. He was born into the Gillespie family, that six generations earlier, had made the Gillespie Rifle. The Gillespie Iron Works on the East Fork of the French Broad, made traps, rifles and other needed tools for settlers in the pre-revolutionary period. He studied at Rosman, received an Associate of Arts from Brevard College and a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Western Carolina University. He served two years in the U.S. Army Artillery FDC, the majority of that time in Vietnam. His work career included E.I DuPont deNeMours at Cedar Mountain and Wellman, Inc., in Johnsonville, SC. He helped to make films for DuPont. DuPont made him an expert in extruded plastics. At Wellman, he learned to make fibers out of the same polyester. In addition, some nylon operations broadened his scope even more. Gary also worked in carpentry, brick laying, woolen and cotton thread processing, with stints in hotel general maintenance and time-share sales.

Golf and reading were his favorite activities. He could not read as fast as his closest friend, Brenda Queen Jamerson Morgan, whom he had known since childhood. They had grown up and lived separate, complete lives! They re-started their lasting friendship by talking about grief.

Stealing a line from one of those books, Gary lived, loved and was loved.

A graveside service with military honors will be held at 2 PM Friday, March 27, 2026, at 2 PM at East Fork Methodist Church Cemetery, 14 Rainbow Lake Rd., Brevard, NC.