Jake Gillespie

1999 - 2022

Jake Tyler Gillespie, 22, of Grand Island died Saturday, Jan. 1, 2022, as a result of a car accident in Buffalo County.
Services will be 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 11, at the Third City Christian Church. Burial will be at the Westlawn Memorial Park Cemetery.
Visitation will be 6-8 p.m. Monday, Jan. 10, also at the church.
Memorials are suggested to the family to be determined later. All Faiths Funeral Home is entrusted with the arrangements.
Jake was born June 18, 1999, in Hastings, the son of Tracy Gillespie and Jayson Rhoads. He attended Trinity Lutheran Preschool, Newell Elementary, Walnut Middle School and graduated from Grand Island Senior High with the class of 2017. While attending Walnut, Jake was chosen by his teachers with the honor of laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on the schools Washington, D.C., trip. In middle school, Jake played football, basketball and ran cross country. He took a medal in his first eight cross country meets.
In high school Jake played baseball for four years for GISH, seven years of Riverdogs baseball in his youth and American Legion Baseball. He graduated with honors and in the top 15% of his class from GISH. Jake was a recent graduate of the University of Nebraska at Kearney with his bachelor's degree in business administration/marketing.
Jake loved the outdoors, including time spent at Calamus Reservoir, boating, wakeboarding and fishing. He loved Husker sports and most of all, time spent with family, many friends, and his four-legged companion, Husker. Jake worked for Auto America and Midway Chevrolet, Ryan Bartels Construction, detailed cars in his spare time and Global Life Insurance.
Jake had a heart of gold, made a statement in this world, and had a huge impact on many people's lives.
Those left to cherish his memory are his mother and stepfather, Tracy and John Gillespie of Grand Island; his dad, Jayson Rhoads of Grand Island; sisters, Jordyn Rhoads and Brittany Gillespie of Grand Island; nephews, Rhett and Ryder and William; grandparents, Larry and Connie Tylkowski of Calamus; and his aunt, Kat (Krisha) Tylkowski of Omaha and her four-legged companion, Gabby; grandmother, Loretta Rhoads of Grand Island; his uncle, Dean (Lucille) Rhoads of Grand Island; his uncle, Mark (Kim) Gillespie of Holdrege; his aunt, Lori Gillespie of Mesa, Ariz., his special uncle, Dave Nall of St. Libory; Jake's four-legged companion, Husker; and numerous family and friends.
He is preceded in death by his grandparents, Jack and Alyce Gillespie and Larry Rhoads; a sister, Lindsay Gillespie; and a four-legged brother, Rudy.