Rev Patricia Anne Gillespie (1950-2014) - Find a Grave Memorial

Patricia Anne Gillespie 1950-2014

Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The family moved to Neptune Beach, Florida in 1951 and she spent her formative years excelling at every challenge she called to perform. She went to Fletcher High School and into Swarthmore College. She graduated with a B.A. in Biology. While at Swarthmore she found a decidedly different career path in loving and caring for her new husband, Patrick Henry, and his son, Stephan. They had three children of their own: Miranda, Juliet, and Brendan. The family eventually moved to Collegeville, Minnesota. Patricia and Patrick divorced and she subsequently married Paul Schlauderaff and pursued yet another path earning her M.A. in Theology at St. John's University and following that a Master of Divinity from The University of the South. She became The Reverend Patricia A. Gillespie, a minister in the Episcopal Church. Patricia and Paul later separated and she moved to a farm in Aurora, Minnesota. She rotated her Sunday services among several churches. Her mission was to help the parishioners create a Lay Ministry in their respective churches which she supervised, mentored, and offered spiritual and theological guidance. Patricia also was the Spiritual Coordinator for St. Mary's Hospice & Palliative Care Center. Toward the end of a valiant battle against an unusually aggressive form of breast cancer, she retired to Neptune Beach.

Patricia Anne Gillespie was born on April 2, 1950 in Ann Arbor, Michigan where she was known for an ever so brief time as Patsy Anne by her parents, Drusilla and Hardy Gillespie. The little family moved to Neptune Beach, Florida in 1951 and she spent her formative years excelling at every challenge she called upon her fine mind and agile body to perform. With those gifts so obvious to all, perhaps no one but her beloved Mother guessed that it would be her spiritual side that would turn out to be her strongest asset. Since the time she could pronounce the word, she wanted to be a Veterinarian and pursued that career path through Fletcher High School and into Swarthmore College. She was graduated with a B.A. in Biology and never lost her love of animals, but while at Swarthmore she found a decidedly different career path in loving and caring for her new husband, Patrick Henry, and his son, Stephan. Soon their union would be blessed with three children of their own: Miranda, Juliet, and Brendan. With her typically unquenchable curiosity and in daily contact with many of the country's best scholars representing a broad spectrum of theologies, Patricia began delving deeper and deeper into area of Theology and Religious Studies. The family moved to Collegeville, Minnesota. Patricia and Patrick divorced and she subsequently married Paul Schlauderaff and pursued yet another path earning her M.A. in Theology at St. John's University and following that a Master of Divinity from The University of the South. Answering this call, she became The Reverend Patricia A. Gillespie, a minister in the Episcopal Church. Patricia and Paul later separated and she moved to a farm in Aurora, Minnesota. She rotated her Sunday services among several churches in the Iron Range area where she was affectionately known as Motherflash. Her mission was to help the parishioners create a Lay Ministry in their respective churches which she supervised, mentored, and offered spiritual and theological guidance. Patricia took on the additional challenges of working as the Spiritual Coordinator for St. Mary's Hospice & Palliative Care Center. Toward the end of a valiant battle against an unusually aggressive form of breast cancer, she retired to Neptune Beach spending the last year of her short life among the many friends and family who had loved her since her youth.