Wilma Gillespie

May 11, 1923 — August 20, 2015

Dr. Wilma Beavers Gillespie
Wilma B. Gillespie, 92, of Vincent, Ohio, and formerly of Leesburg, FL, claimed the promise of resurrection on Thursday, August 20, 2015. She was born in New Hall, WV on May 11, 1923, grew up in Squire, WV, and resided in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Delaware, and came to Howey-in-the-Hills, FL in 1980 from Louisville, KY. She received a diploma in nursing from Charleston General Hospital School of Nursing, a B.S. Ed. from the University of Pennsylvania, a M. Ed. from Ohio University and a Ph.D. from the Ohio State University. She was a member of Kappa Delta Pi and Phi Delta Kappa, a Kentucky Colonel, and a life member of the Ohio State University Alumni Association. Wilma was a lifelong educator and national speaker. She was an instructor of nursing schools in West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Delaware, Professor of Nursing at Brevard Community College in Cocoa, FL, Educational Consultant for departments of education in WV and FL, director of the Wood County School of Practical Nursing in Parkersburg, WV and Associate Professor in the School of Education at the University of Louisville, KY. Wilma was president of District 3 of the WV Nurses' Association, president of the WV League for Nursing and received Governor's appointment to the WV Board of Examiners for Practical Nurses. She had been president of the Health Occupations Education Division of the American Vocational Association and Executive Director of Region 3 (Lake and Sumter counties and Lake Sumter Community College), coordinating council in Florida. She was the author of several technical books. She is a member of the Veto Presbyterian Church and formerly a member and Elder of First Presbyterian Church of Wildwood, FL, where she was a volunteer in the soup kitchen and wrote Our Presbyterian Heritage: An Account of the 110 Year History of The Presbyterian Church of Wildwood. Wilma was a Professional Story Teller of Hymnology. She was married to William T. Gillespie, Sr. in the chapel at the University of Pennsylvania and he died just months before their 54th anniversary. In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by her parents, Thomas Marion and Nannie Lou Carter Beavers, five sisters, Marie Beavers, Clara Presley, Annabelle Beavers, Nannie Lou Milsap and Vivian Jackson and three brothers, Frank, Jesse and Louis Beavers. Wilma is survived by three sons, William T. Gillespie, Jr. (DDS) and his wife, Ellen, Carter E. Gillespie (DDS) and his wife, Jane, and John N. Gillespie, II (MD) and his wife, Sandra, fourteen grandchildren; twenty two great grandchildren, and several nieces and nephews. Visitation for friends and family will be held at the Barlow Chapel of Cawley & Peoples Funeral Home on Saturday, from 5 to 8 p.m. Funeral services will be held 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, August 23, 2015, at the Veto Presbyterian Church, with the Rev. Andrew Gerhart officiating. Interment will follow at a later date at Florida National Cemetery. Those who wish may make contributions to the Building Fund at Veto Presbyterian, P.O. Box 158, Vincent, OH 45784.

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Wilma Gillespie

May 11, 1923 — August 20, 2015

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