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Person

Daniel G. "Danny" Gillespie

Also Daniel G. Gillespie · Danny Gillespie · Dan Gillespie

Draft — sources verified, prose evolving

TypePerson
WithinBeaver Island
ErasModern era
On this page
Person
Active
fl. 1973
Work
Automotive-service employee, Erber Auto Company · Musician · President, Beaver Island Flying Club
Parents
Jewell F. Gillespie · Rita M. Gillespie
Siblings
John Wayne "Johnny" Gillespie · Robert J. Gillespie · Richard Lynn "Richie" Gillespie · William "Billy" F. Gillespie · Mary T. Palmer · Julie A. Gillespie
Member of
Beaver Island Flying Club
Eras
Modern era
Concepts
educationcommunityeconomymusic-folklore
Within
Beaver Island

Summary

Daniel G. “Danny” Gillespie, a son of Jewell and Rita Gillespie, led the teenage Beaver Island Flying Club as its founding president in 1971 and graduated from Ferris State College with an automotive-service degree in 1973. He married Patricia Cross in 1975 and, like his father, continued the family’s island music.

History

A April 1957 Beacon item describes “little Danny Gillespie,” then three years old, giving an Elvis Presley imitation with a toy guitar at the island’s St. Patrick’s Day party, and names him the son of Jewell and Rita Gillespie.1 In January 1971 he was elected president of the newly formed Beaver Island Flying Club, a fifteen-member group of island teenagers that met weekly under flight instructor Bill Welke; his brother Richard was a member and his sister Julie the club’s public-relations officer.2 The following month he traveled to Big Rapids to sit the entrance examination for Ferris State College.3

Gillespie graduated from Ferris on 10 June 1973 with an Associate of Applied Arts in Automotive Service and went to work for Erber Auto Company.4 On 21 June 1975 he married Patricia Cross; his brother Richie Gillespie served as groomsman.5 The following August, at the 1976 Homecoming Dance in Holy Cross Hall, Danny played music alongside his father Jewell, Ed Palmer, and Russell Palmer — the earliest located evidence of him performing with the family band.6

A decade later, an August 1985 birth notice names a son, Jewell Perry Gillespie, born to “Tamie and Danny Gillespie of Charlevoix,” with Rita and Jewell Gillespie as grandparents.7 A second child, a daughter named Murphy Lauren Gillespie, was born to “Daniel and Tamie Gillespie of Charlevoix” on August 20, 1989, with grandparents Jewell Gillespie of Beaver Island and Joan and Larry Delemater of Six Lakes — the only located source giving a family name for Tamie, though it does not itself state whether Delemater is a maiden name.8 Jewell Gillespie’s December 1995 obituary lists “Daniel G. Gillespie and his wife Tammie, of Charlevoix” among his surviving children, and separately records that a grandson, Jewell Perry Gillespie, had predeceased him.9

A February 1996 Beacon profile of Jewell Gillespie’s Michigan Heritage Award names Danny, alongside sister Cindy and brother-in-law Edward Palmer, as the family members carrying the island’s music into a new generation.10

Significance

Gillespie’s record traces one path several Gillespie children followed: early and visible participation in island youth organizations, post-secondary technical education off-island, and a return to family and community life that included, in his case, continuing his father’s musical tradition.

Open questions

  • No source read here explains the change between “Patricia Cross,” married in 1975, and “Tamie,” named as his wife from 1985 onward and in the 1995 obituary; both are reported factually and without further comment. The 1989 birth notice names Tamie’s parents as Joan and Larry Delemater of Six Lakes but does not itself confirm Delemater as a maiden name.
  • The date and cause of the death of his son Jewell Perry Gillespie, noted only as predeceasing his grandfather in the 1995 obituary, are not established.

See also

Sources

See also the full sources: block above.

Footnotes

  1. Beaver Beacon, April 1957, St. Patrick’s Day party notice. ↩

  2. Beaver Beacon, January 1971, “Beaver Island Kids Start Flying Club.” ↩

  3. Beaver Beacon, February 1971, Ferris entrance-exam note. ↩

  4. Beaver Beacon, July 1973, “Graduates.” ↩

  5. Beaver Beacon, July 1975, “Weddings: Cross–Gillespie.” ↩

  6. Beaver Beacon, August 1976, Homecoming report. ↩

  7. Beaver Beacon, August 1985, birth notice. ↩

  8. Beaver Beacon, September 1989, “Birth Announcement.” ↩

  9. Beaver Beacon, December 1995, “Jewell F. Gillespie, 78” (obituary). ↩

  10. Beaver Beacon, February 1996, “An Award to Jewell Gillespie.” ↩

Kin

Jewell F.Gillespie1917 – 1995Rita M.Gillespie1927 – 1988John Wayne"Johnny" GillespieJulie A.GillespieMary T. PalmerRichard Lynn"Richie" Gillespieb. 1955Robert J.Gillespie1950 – 2015William "Billy"F. GillespieThis articleDaniel G."Danny" Gillespie
Only relations stated in the sources are drawn; absence means unrecorded, not childless or unmarried.

The dated record

3 dated events · 1973–1975These years on the timeline →

Sources

  1. Identifies Daniel G. Gillespie as the son of Jewell Gillespie, a June 10 Ferris graduate with an A.A.A. in Automotive Service, and an employee of Erber Auto Company.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1973-07_Beaver-Beacon
  2. The held eleven-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1973-07_Beaver-Beacon
  3. Describes "little Danny Gillespie," age 3, performing an Elvis Presley imitation with a toy guitar, and names him "the son of Jewell and Rita Gillespie." The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1957-04_Beaver-Beacon
  4. The held five-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1957-04_Beaver-Beacon
  5. Names Dan Gillespie president of the newly formed, 15-member Beaver Island Flying Club, a teenage club led by flight instructor Bill Welke; also lists Richard Gillespie as a member and Julie Gillespie as public-relations officer.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1971-01_Beaver-Beacon
  6. The held ten-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1971-01_Beaver-Beacon
  7. Reports "Danny Gillespie, son of Mr. and Mrs. Jewell Gillespie," traveling to Big Rapids to write entrance examinations for Ferris.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1971-02_Beaver-Beacon
  8. The held seven-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1971-02_Beaver-Beacon
  9. Reports Daniel Gillespie's June 21 wedding to Patricia Cross, with brother Richie Gillespie as groomsman. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1975-07_Beaver-Beacon
  10. The held nine-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1975-07_Beaver-Beacon
  11. Reports the July 24 birth of Jewell Perry Gillespie to "Tamie and Danny Gillespie of Charlevoix," with Rita and Jewell Gillespie as grandparents. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1985-08_Beaver-Beacon
  12. The held eighteen-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1985-08_Beaver-Beacon
  13. Lists "Daniel G. Gillespie and his wife Tammie, of Charlevoix," among Jewell Gillespie's surviving children, and separately lists a predeceased grandson, Jewell Perry Gillespie. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1995-12_Beaver-Beacon
  14. The held eighteen-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1995-12_Beaver-Beacon
  15. Names Danny and his sister Cindy, and brother-in-law Edward Palmer, as the family carrying Jewell Gillespie's island music into a new generation. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1996-02_Beaver-Beacon
  16. The held twenty-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1996-02_Beaver-Beacon
  17. Reports the Annual Homecoming Dance at Holy Cross Hall, August 7, 1976, with music provided by Jewell Gillespie, Ed Palmer, Danny Gillespie, and Russell Palmer — the earliest located evidence of Danny performing music alongside his father, a year after his 1975 wedding. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1976-08_Beaver-Beacon
  18. The held eleven-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1976-08_Beaver-Beacon
  19. Reports a daughter, Murphy Lauren Gillespie, born to "Daniel and Tamie Gillespie of Charlevoix" on August 20, 1989, naming grandparents Jewell Gillespie of Beaver Island and Joan and Larry Delemater of Six Lakes — a second child, and the only located source giving a family name (Delemater) for Tamie, though it does not state a maiden name directly or explain the change from "Patricia Cross" in the 1975 wedding report. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1989-09_Beaver-Beacon
  20. The held twenty-four-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1989-09_Beaver-Beacon

Added 1 August 2026 · revised 4 August 2026. Recent changes

Cite this article

Beaver Island Archive, “Daniel G. "Danny" Gillespie”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/people/daniel-g-danny-gillespie/, accessed [date], citing Beaver Beacon, July 1973, “Graduates.” (and 19 further sources listed on the page).

Last revised 2026-08-04. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.

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