Elaine Ruth Gillespie

It is with deep sorrow that we announce the passing of our mother, Elaine Ruth Ash Gillespie of Saratoga Springs, Utah, on March 26, 2026.

She was born on May 15, 1939, in Pomona, California, the daughter of Elgie Grant Ash and Louise Josephine Johnson.

Elaine loved to share stories of her life with her family and friends. She fondly recalled her childhood spent in Southern California, especially the excitement of holidays spent with extended family, including a visit from Santa himself. She also loved sharing stories about her college adventures.

Elaine attended Colorado State University at Fort Collins, where she studied psychology and met her future husband, Richard Charles Gillespie, whom she married on May 7, 1960, at Pomona, California. Elaine and Richard were married for 22 years and were the parents of four children. She raised her children in Tucson, Arizona and Rocklin, California, before retiring and relocating to Utah.

Elaine dedicated her life to being a loving and involved mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She enjoyed traveling, especially to Ireland; political engagement; Sees Candies; British television; and all animals, especially dogs. But more than anything, she loved her family deeply, and the role she cherished most was that of mother and grandmother.

Some of the milestones of Elaine’s life were obtaining her private pilot’s license in 1982 at the age of 43, and she was immensely proud of her work as a Court Clerk at the Sacramento County Courthouse for 20 years. To this day, employees at the courthouse remember her friendly and kind personality.

Despite health challenges, Elaine remained resilient, independent, and grateful for her many blessings. She found joy in meaningful conversation, togetherness, and staying close to her family through frequent calls to check in with her children and grandchildren

Elaine leaves behind a legacy of compassion, strength of character, and kindness that lives on in her family. She inspires them to do better and be kind to others. She will be greatly missed and remembered forever. She was a loving mother, a doting grandmother, and a kind soul. As we mourn her loss, we also celebrate the wonderful person that she was.

In addition to her parents, Elaine was preceded in death by a grandson, Andrew Michael Blair.

She is survived by her three daughters, Diane Gillespie (Tom) Jay of Lincoln, California; Darlene (Sylvia) Gillespie of Queen Creek, Arizona; and Denise Gillespie (Darrell) Blair of Saratoga Springs, Utah, one son, Richard Grant (Amy) Gillespie of Meadow Vista, California, as well as twelve grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. She also loved and considered her furbaby, Flynn, and her six grandpups family.

A private family celebration of life will take place at a later date. We would encourage her family and friends to honor her legacy by donating to a local animal welfare organization. This would be the best tribute to her life.

Irish Prayer for the Departed


Death is nothing at all
I have only slipped away to the next room.
I am I, and you are you.
Whatever we were to each other, That, we still are.
Call me by my old familiar name.
Speak to me in the easy way which you always used.
Put no difference into your tone.
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.
Laugh as we always laughed
at the little jokes, we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me. Pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was.
Let it be spoken without effect.
Without the trace of a shadow on it.
Life means all that it ever meant.
It is the same that it ever was.
There is absolute unbroken continuity.
Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?
I am but waiting for you.
For an interval.
Somewhere. Very near.
Just around the corner.
All is well.
Nothing is past; nothing is lost. One brief moment and all will be as it was before, only better, infinitely happier and forever we will all be one together with Christ.