Reverend Edward F. Gillespie died Dec. 9 in St. Charles, Illinois. Father was born on April 1, 1931, in Chicago to Edward Gillespie and Mary Agnes O’Byrne Gillespie. Father Gillespie was ordained by the Most Reverend Loras Thomas Lane at St. James in Rockford on May 25, 1957. Father attended St. Mary Seminary in Baltimore, Md., where he received two bachelor’s degrees (AB and STB). He later attended Loyola University in Chicago, where he received a Master’s degree in Education in 1964. Father was assigned as parochial vicar at St. Thomas in Freeport from 1957 to 1960, at St. James in Belvidere from 1960 to 1962, and at Ss. Peter and Paul in Cary from 1962 to 1963. He served on the faculty at St. Edward Central Catholic High School from 1964 to 1966 and then as Superintendent from 1966 to 1969. In 1969 he joined the faculty at Aquin Central Catholic High School in Freeport. From 1969 to 1970, he was faculty at Aurora Central Catholic High School. Father served as director of Religious Education at Aurora Central Catholic from 1970 to 1984. In 1984 Father was assigned as pastor of Our Lady of Good Counsel in Aurora and retired there from active ministry on July 2, 2001. Father Gillespie had a gift of relating to young people which made his many years of ministry in education so fruitful. He touched many student’s lives and is remembered fondly by so many. Father is preceded in death by his parents; Mary Agnes and Edward Gillespie both of Doonin, Kilcar, County Donegal Ireland. Father is survived by the O’Byrne family in Ireland and cousins from the Gillespie side here in the States and his good friend and caregiver Gail Quinn. Mass of Christian Burial will be on Tuesday, December 17, 2019, at 11:30 a.m. at St. Joan of Arc Parish, 820 Division Str., Lisle. Visitation will take place at the church from 9:30 a.m. until the time for the Funeral Mass at 11:30 a.m. Burial will take place at All Saints Cemetery, Des Plaines. Arrangements are being made by Adams Winterfield & Sullivan Funeral Home, Downers Grove. Memorials can be made in his name to the Diocese of Rockford Long Term Care for Priest Fund.