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BORN
1921
DIED
2005
Mary Gillespie Obituary
Funeral: 10 a.m. Thursday in Laurel Land Memorial Chapel. Burial: Caddo Cemetery in Joshua. Visitation: 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home.
Mary had been a member of Westcliff United Methodist Church (now Arborlawn UMC) since January 1973. She was an active member of the Bible Study Sunday School Class at Westcliff UMC and the Wedgwood Garden Club.
Mary loved to travel, she had visited every state in our country and also traveled abroad. She was a proud military wife who served her country by moving her family in support of her husband. Mrs. Gillespie had lived in Alaska and England in that mission.
Survivors: Loving husband of 62 years, Keith Gillespie of Fort Worth; daughter, Carol Burton and husband, Amon of Austin; son, Hal Gillespie and wife, Joann of Dallas; grandchildren, Christopher Cohen, Jeremy Cohen, Elizabeth Cohen and husband, Brian Branningan, John Gillespie and wife, Catherine, Joseph Gillespie and wife, Beth; great-grandchildren, Samuel and Andrew Gillespie; a host of other extended family members and friends, including John and Joseph's mother, Laura Emmons.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Memories and Condolences
for Mary Gillespie
Sponsored by Carol Cohen Burton and Hal Gillespie.
August 26, 2010
Happy Birthday in heaven, Mary! I know with all my heart you are looking out for us and still celebrating our birthdays like you did so well when you were with us on earth. I miss you and wish I could talk to you especially when I hit a problem in the kitchen. I hope I can be a terrific grandmother to my grandkids like you were to mine.
Love,
Laura
Jeremy Cohen
August 26, 2010
Thinking of you today, Gramma. Wish I could be down south to spend this special day with Grampa. Much love.
carol burton
August 26, 2010
hey, mer, I'M THINKING OF YOU TODAY, especially, ON YOUR 89th birthday. i'm going to spend the day w/daddy & we will both toast you & have cake w/a candle in your honor. i'll put together a composite photo of all your grandkiddos & post it soon. here's the grandkid count now:
-amy & brad have 2: connor & garrett + 1 (baby bradley)
-brandi & scott have 1: lubbock nash + 1 (lil bit) on the way
-beth & joe have 2: john & andrew + 1 on the way
-jack has 3: britton 2, jacquiline 4, samuel 6
THAT'S 8 TOTAL NOW.
-PLUS 2 on the way (lubbock's baby brother due in nov 2010 & andrew & john's baby sibling due in jan 2011)
-PLUS baby bradley who is in your heavenly realm.
I LOVE YOU ALWAYS, dear mer......xxxxxxxxcarol
Amy Burton Smith
August 26, 2008
Grandma Mary, Sending you love from myself and all the Smith boys on this special day. It is so wonderful to see the photos that Carol has put together of precious moments in your life. I especially enjoyed seeing your lovely smile filled with pride in the photos over the years with Keith, Carol, Hal and Elizabeth. My boys so enjoy time with Keith and I miss that they don't get the chance to be with you as much. Give hugs to our dear Bradley and Chaunda.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MER...with your OWN PAINTING!
carol burton
August 26, 2008
mer....
thinking of you especially, today, AUGUST 26th, 2008. you are 87 today and very much with us every day...your spirit strongly present & making us smile with the pleasure of all you did for us. you never demanded attention for your many gifts to us (time, talent, care etc) & so you often didn't get praised enough, by me, i fear. i value you & your impact on my life, more and more as i grow older & more aware. aghhh....isn't that the way. i know you are aware of this deep gratitude i feel. wish i had been able to express it more when you could hear it on earth! i'm uploading a photograph of one of your many wonderful paintings.....A BIRTHDAY CARD TO YOU OF YOUR OWN ART! much love dearest mer.....xxxxxx forever,carol
carol
May 13, 2007
daddy and i visit you so often, at caddo, mer...and love tending your garden. it is gorgeous, we think you would approve! the bluebonnets and poppies reseeded themselves happily from last year & we added a few more this year. bluebonnets & poppies will cover caddo next year (our prediction). loving you always,
carol burton
February 14, 2007
THINKING OF YOU on valentine's day, mer!
i just submitted 2 photos for you....the 1st is a composite of one that i bet you had taken for daddy for a valentine's present in 1945. i'm very tiny...probably just short of a month old...and you have a heart pin on your lapel. it's a studio portait, and i bet it winged its way to daddy oversees after you and i posed for it. the next is one of me and daddy..taken on grandmother's front porch. i bet this one was taken by you, of the 2 of us shortly after he got home for his 1st visit with me. (obviously we liked each other & the photographer!)
the next photo is one of you and daddy taken together several years ago. it was your christmas card in 2000 i'm pretty sure. (no date on the back, my carelessness in labeling). you are both in red and are so happy together. it's a loving valentine tribute to you both, and a way for us to keep you and your love for each other very alive in our hearts and minds.
with love always, "your favorite daughter", carol
together always & forever (taken about 2000)
February 14, 2007
lucky me! 1945 with carol.
February 14, 2007
december 21st, 2006
carol burton
December 24, 2006
it's christmas eve here on earth, mer. our last night on earth together, dec. 24th, 2005, singing christmas carols in your room, gathered around your bedside, loving you intensely, is a memory we will carry with us always. we rejoice in your love & great spirit, mer. we miss you & your force of presence which brought us together to celebrate. i'm sending you a photo of your beautiful spot on earth, tho i know you are there with us everytime we visit. it seemed especially right to decorate your earthly home for christmas. we sing carols to you in our hearts.....loving you, your 'favorite daughter'.....
Laura Emmons
May 14, 2006
May 14, 2006
We are thinking of you today celebrating your first
mother-grandmother-
greatgrandmother's
day in heaven. Please keep looking out for us especially all the little "greats" that are so precious to us! I'm so glad you got to meet Samuel and Andrew here on earth and I feel that Baby Bradley is close to you in heaven.
We miss you but we'll get to see each other again,
Laura
keith tends to/photographs mary's butterfly/rose/poppy garden
carol
May 13, 2006
THINKING OF YOU ON MOTHER'S DAY, dearest mer...wistfully, hoping you're smiling on your garden and those whose hearts & minds you hold so completely. 'your favorite (and only!) daughter'
Donald Kessler
February 24, 2006
The world needs more Mary G's! Mary was our good friend since 1948. Beutiful thoughts and memories of her will be with us always. We will miss her cheerful spirit and her love of family and friends.
Don and Doris Kessler
Linda (Gillespie) Rybacki
January 17, 2006
Dear Keith, Carol and Hal,
I remember all your visit to Gratton, Va. were like a holiday for us. We loved your stories and seeing the pictures of your travels. Mother, Dad and our Aunt Mary Puckett were so very proud of you and your accomplishments. They loved you very much. Mary Ann was a beautiful lady, inside and out. She definitely left her footprints on our hearts. May God comfort you.
Love, Linda and family
Linda (Gillespie) Rybacki
(Minneota, MN)
[email protected]
mary/mer/grandmer: with her favorite granddaughter 10/22/05
January 13, 2006
mary & keith & brien & elizabeth october 22, 2005
elizabeth cohen
January 13, 2006
i am so lucky to have had two wonderful grandparents to enjoy well into my adulthood...i know so many people who lost their grandparents early in their childhoods, and never got to experience the extreme love and joy of that generation of their family. i have such fond memories of visiting grandma and grandpa in ft. worth as a child....driving up from austin. as soon as we saw the "no dumping" sign (our childhood landmark for recognizing when we were near kingswood dr.), i could barely contain my excitement. it seems like it took FOREVER to drive to ft. worth, and we could just hardly wait to FINALLY get to the end of the driveway at the back of the house and see grandma and grandpa come out of the house to greet us! we knew that when we got inside, there was to be a wonderful feast awaiting us: anything grandma would have made would be such a treat! my favorite was always sloppy joes and chocolate crinkle cookies or snicker doodles....and once grandma knew what your favorite was, she'd always be sure to have it waiting for you!
what a wonderful grandma mary was....and what treasures she passed on to me genetically. i see a direct line through my incredible mother, carol. grandma was an extremely gifted artist, and a passionate gardener. she passed these gifts on, and they exploded in the most amazing way in her daughter. i fancy myself and artist, too...and have come to find great pleasure, solace, and fulfillment in gardening on my rooftop in brooklyn. if i exhibit even the tiniest fraction of the skill and talent evident in my maternal predecessors, i will be satisfied that i have a gift.
i am attaching a photo from the last day i saw grandma on this mortal plane. it was brien's and my wedding day, which we felt must be shared with grandma and grandpa. grandma looked as stunningly beautiful as i always remember, and as movie-star gorgeous as she does in all the photos i've ever seen of her young adulthood. what a looker!!
brien and i can only hope that our marriage will be as long and wonderful as grandma & grandpa's. what in incredible example they've set!
i was lucky to be the only girl born into my generation of the family. for this reason, grandma was always able to call me her favorite granddaughter without guilt, and i could guiltlessly call her my favorite grandmother. it was an exchange we enjoyed until the very end.
you will always be my favorite grandmother, grandma....i love you very much,
elizabeth
april 16th, 2003 mer w/her favorite son & her favorite daughter
January 10, 2006
1.19.03 mary & keith - 3 months short of their 60th wedding anniversary
January 10, 2006
Anne Bennett
January 9, 2006
As a little girl I remember Keith and Mary Ann coming to Road Fork, Ky, to see my Aunt Liza. I thought they were the handsomest couple I ever saw. And so romantic. Keith showed us slides of his trips to exotic places, and we loved it. My husband Chipley came to love and admire my "relates" as well. What a place you hold in our hearts, Keith. And we look forward as well to the time we will be together where there is no more pain, and we'll have all the time of eternity to talk and enjoy each other's company. Love you, Anne & Chipley
Nadine Sullivan
January 9, 2006
Such a wonderful tribute to a truly lovely lady. She will be missed by many.My prayers are with the family.
Roger Bradshaw
January 9, 2006
Keith: God has promised us a better place if we believe in him, someday you will be joined with Mary Ann to live in eternal bliss. God loves you and all of his special people.
Blessings Roger
Bill & Dee Day
January 8, 2006
Our sympathy to Mary's family.
Mary Ann Gillespie's Memorial
Keith Gillespie
January 7, 2006
Mary and I selected a memorial and
had it installed in the Harrison family plot at Caddo Cemetery near Joshua several years ago. She is buried near her mother and father. Photo of the memorial is in this book. God knows I miss her!
Brien Brannigan
January 6, 2006
I'll remember Mary Gillespie as being as sweet as her freshly baked cakes (that I could never say no to), and as beautiful as her award-winning flowers. I am very happy to have been accepted into her amazing family, and extremely proud to call her grandma.
Martin Buchanan
January 3, 2006
Mr. Gillespie, I feel your pain as my dad passed away the same day. They are surely better off than we are.
Laura Emmons
January 2, 2006
I am very grateful to have known Mary and feel very strongly that she will continue to watch over us till we get to see her again. I am grateful to her especially as a grandmother to Jack and Joe and like my own mother I had no idea how much I valued her experience till I became a mother and a grandmother myself. She will always be with us especially on Christmas Day since this past year she was here for the last time and then got to spend her first Christmas in heaven. I truly admire Keith and Hal and Carol for the loving,constant care they gave her. When I heard her time had come I told her to tell Uncle Hal and Aunt Stella "hello" for me and I know she has!
mer/mary approx. 1954
carol gillespie cohen burton
January 2, 2006
for my dear dear mer....
a friend gave me this card when they learned of your christmas day release to the rainbow heavens....
"every man's life is a fairy tale written by god's fingers"
quote from hans christian anderson.
you and i had, less than a month ago, watched the movie of hans christian anderson's life together....
i thought of doing that, because, when i was a child, you read to me from 2 great volumes of his fairy tales. one with a deep green cover, one with rich burgundy cover. i would fall into those pages of magic with you as you read. i learned to love reading from your intense delight in sharing with me the books that you had loved as a child. you shared with me so many of your great loves....and they became mine........color...painting....gardening...flowers....travel....reading....family and family history....your great softness for animals, tho we owned so few because of all our moves.
thank you, mer, for all the rich gifts you gave me. they will live with me always, as will you.
the most wonderful gift of all, perhaps, was the 2 1/2 years i got to spend visiting you at broadway plaza.
your warm twinkle & sweet smile when i would arrive from austin
your enthusiasm for anything i wanted for us to do together....
reading...YES!....
movie watching...YES!.....
family slides....YES!....
raucous family feasts...YES!
baseball on the tv with daddy...YES!...
throwing the little stuffed animals as your arm exercises......YES!....
you were up for it all.
your sweet smile as you held me with your eyes and called me ‘my favorite daughter’. of course.... i was your only daughter, but how i loved hearing you say it. it was my cue to hug you and say with deep feeling...’my favorite mom’....and mean it to the tips of my toes.
i think of you now, with sunshine & cardinals overhead and sunflowers all around....your eyes bright and your smile radiant....enfolding all you love...all of us at once, with your embrace. thank you, mer, for the great gifts to all you touched with your love. carol
Bern Brannigan
December 30, 2005
It was wonderful to be in the presence of Mary and feel the love that was shone to her by all at Brien and Elizabeths' wedding. I know she could feel it too. My condolences to all.
Catherine Gillespie
December 30, 2005
I have known Mary and Keith now for four years. I truly enjoyed watching there devotion to each other. She left a legacy of love for her husband, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I would like to take what I learned and observed, and pass the love around to all in my life time too. I Love you and miss you, see you again one day Grandma. Catherine Gillespie
John Boyd
December 29, 2005
Keith; You and Mary have been Great neighbors for about 30 years. We are certainly going to miss Mary. It has been nice knowing such a gracious lady. Your continued care for Mary reflects the deep love you had for her the kind of love God gives. May God continue to bless you and help you thru the lonely times.
Mary Margaret Armentrout
December 28, 2005
I always enjoyed having Mary Ann as a part of our family, she was such a joy to be around. My prayers go out to Keith and family.
Mary Margaret
Mary Elizabeth Marcum
December 28, 2005
Mary Ann will always be remembered, she was the sweetest lady I ever knew. A cousin to be proud of. Now an Angel in Heaven.
Love and Prayers to the Family.
Sis and Yogi
Jean Ann Dunn
December 28, 2005
I am a better person for having known Aunt Mary, Aunt Stella, my father Hal, and the many wonderful people of this family. Aunt Mary was that touch of class. She had a richness about her. I will treasure all the times we were able to spend with her and Uncle Keith. I am truly saddened at her passing, but imagine what a time Uncle John, Aunt Stella, Deeda, Hal and now Aunt Mary are having.
With so much love,
Jean Ann
Joe Gillespie
December 27, 2005
Mary, grandma to me, was a truly an amazing woman. I will always remember her love and the warmth of her home. I will remember the many feasts she hosted where our family laughed and talked for hours. I will remember her and granddad taking my brother and me to museums and on other great outings. I will remember her bright smile and her sharp wit. I will always thank her for having done a great job raising my father and my aunt, both of whom are a direct reflection of how wonderful she was as a mother. I will always admire and be inspired by the love and devotion between her and my grandfather. These memories, and the countless others, are a testament to her full and rich life. We’ll miss her always, but the warm memories will provide comfort.
Beth Gillespie
December 27, 2005
Mary and Keith have truly been like grandparents to me. Before joining the Gillespie family I had lost all of my own grandparents. Mary and Keith have been so kind and loving to me that I feel like I am one of their own grandchildren. I am very blessed to have them in my life and to have become part of their family.
Joann Donovan
December 27, 2005
I will always remember Mer for the love and warmth she gave so freely to Justin and me. She made us feel as if we had been a part of her wonderful family forever. Thanks Mer, it meant a great deal to both of us.
Joann and Justin
Mother and Dad in the year 2000
Hal Gillespie
December 27, 2005
With great respect to all other wonderful mothers, moms and Mers, this is a tribute and thanks to my mother (Mer to me), the best mother in the whole world.
Love, Hal
Betty Hennington
December 27, 2005
I have taken time to remember the good times we had playing bridge, talking and just having a good time. I never see a cardinal or a picture of a cardinal that I don't think of her. I will continue to think of her when I see one.
John Martin
December 27, 2005
I have so many great memories of the times that I went to Aunt Mary's house. These memories aren't only from the house in Ft. Worth but also in Bellvue, Roswell and Abilene. There is nothing that I would take for these and the people who made them so special. Those people, of course are Aunt Mary and Uncle Keith as well as Hal and Carol.
Tonya Martin
December 27, 2005
Uncle Keith and family,
I am truly glad to be a part of this family. My Dad and sister send their condolences and sympathies to you and your family. John is so honored that you asked him to be a pallbearer because you, Carol and Hal mean so much to him. I still think of the fun we had playing the card game, golf.
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