Gary E. Gillespie

Gary E. Gillespie, born September 24, 1946, passed away on March 11, 2026. He was preceded in death by his son, Garland, in 1995, his wife, Susie, in 2010, his parents, Johnnie and Marriah Gillespie, and his younger brother, Phillip.

Gary grew up in the Methodist faith, attending Rosman Methodist Church with his family. Since 1982, he remained deeply faithful to English Chapel UMC, where he both worshipped and worked. He earned an Associate of Arts degree from Brevard College and a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Western Carolina University. He served two years in the U.S. Army Artillery Fire Direction Center, most of that time in Vietnam. His professional life included roles at E.I. DuPont de Nemours in Cedar Mountain, where he became an expert in extruded plastics and helped produce films, and at Wellman, Inc. in Johnsonville, South Carolina, where he worked with polyester fibers, nylon, and other materials. He also brought his skills to carpentry, brick laying, woolen and cotton thread processing, hotel maintenance, and time-share sales.

A proud descendant of the Gillespie family, whose iron works on the East Fork of the French Broad produced rifles, traps, and tools for early settlers six generations earlier, Gary often said he was blessed beyond measure. He cherished his surviving grandson, Andrew Scott Gillespie of Palm Bay, Florida, and made it his mission to know Andrew’s daughter, Alexandra Renee. He was also deeply loved by Samantha Ritter, who called him “Pap.” He shared a lifelong, close friendship with Brenda Queen Jamerson Morgan, renewed in later years through conversations about grief. Gary found great joy in golf and reading.

He lived, loved, and was loved.