From Matagorda County History & Genealogy page
Following the 1946 car wreck (see related story) he had friends from Palacios who drove him to Collegeport each Sunday.
For many years, in the 1940s, Rev. Gillespie wrote the Thanksgiving message in the Palacios Beacon as well as Christmas messages and also one about the needy in the town.
He was often a guest writer or messenger for an organization. It wasn’t unusual to find his name on the front page of the newspaper in several different articles.
During his mid-seventies, his health began to fail. He entered the Bay View Hospital in November 1949 and remained there until his death on May 25, 1952.
He was a favorite of the staff and the nurses gave him a birthday party in 1950.
There was a cake, a gift, flowers and cards from his many friends. The newspaper article about the party included this tribute:
“It would be impossible to measure the good that he has done throughout the years, not only in the regular line of pastoral duties, but also to many, many who have sought him for advice, counsel, prayers, and material help for many years.
“He never turned from his door the troubled in body, mind, or soul; no one was ever so ‘down and out’ that Rev. Gillespie's heart would not go out to him in sympathy, or help of whatever kind was needed, spiritual or material.
“Scores of men of all kinds, standing on the street corners about town have been helped and cheered by his kindly words and generous hand.
“In the years of his pastorate his influence and Godly counsel helped to mold the characters of the young, and as a result, many of our former young people who loved and listened to him have gone out into the world with fine, “Christian characters, to lend an influence for righteousness wherever they go.
“And there are many older people who began their growth in grace, and in the knowledge of God and of God's Word, under his ministry.”
A newspaper article from Oklahoma in 1918 indicated that Rev. Gillespie filed an application to initiate the citizenship process.
Evidently he never pursued the process and his obituary noted he never relinquished his Irish citizenship.
After his retirement he chose to stay in Palacios which was the home of his heart.
[Remembrances were from A History of the First Presbyterian Church Palacios, Texas, by Colleen Claybourn]
To read more about Rev. Gillespie, visit Matagorda County
History & Genealogy page