Jean Brown Gillespie

Jean Brown Gillespie of Chestertown, MD, died on March 9, 2014, at her home. She was 73. She was born in Ridgley, MD, the daughter of the late Eugene and Laura Quimby Brown. Jean was a graduate of Sudlersville High School and attended Chesapeake College. She worked as secretary to the president of Sudlersville Bank until 1969. She married Edward Stevens Gillespie on June 28, 1969. Jean was very active in the Chestertown Garden Club. Her passion was growing and showing roses in which she won numerous blue ribbon awards in flower shows. She and her husband traveled extensively, including spending many winter months in Barbados and Florida. Jean was also active with the women’s golf association at Chester River Yacht and Country Club, Chestertown, and San Carlos Country Club, Fort Myers, FL. She was a devoted mother and grandmother and was known for her contagious laugh and wry sense of humor. She will be missed by many, and mostly by her beloved husband, Edward. In addition to her husband, she is survived by her children, Mary Elizabeth Evans and her husband Leonard of Chestertown, Todd Stevens Gillespie and his wife Julie of Chestertown, MD, James Edward Gillespie and his wife Erin of Chestertown, Deborah Gillespie Gazzerro and her husband John of Warwick, MD, Stevens Victor Gillespie and his wife Patricia of Charlotte, NC; along with fifteen grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her siblings, Carlton Brown and his wife Ellen of Bridgeton, NJ, and Linda Berwick and her husband Walt of Selbyville, DE; and a sister-in-law, Margaret Gillespie Albertsen of Chestertown, MD. One son, the late Richard Baxter Phillips, Jr., predeceased her in June of 2012, along with two brothers and two sisters. Services will be held on Sunday, March 16, 2014, at 1 p.m. at Fellows, Helfenbein, and Newnam Funeral Home, 130 Speer Road, Chestertown, MD, where relatives and friends may call on Saturday, March 15 from 7-9 p.m. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to The Chester River Hospital Auxiliary Nurses Scholarship Fund, 100 Brown Street, Chestertown, MD 21620, or American Cancer Society Tribute Giving, 8400 Silver Crossing, Oklahoma City, OK 73132.

Jean Brown Gillespie

May 3, 1940 - March 9, 2014