Jeanne Marie Gillespie

Summary

Jeanne Marie (Wojan) Gillespie, daughter of Walter A. Wojan and Vera M. Wojan of St. James, married John Wayne Gillespie at Holy Cross Church on November 25, 1967. The Beaver Beacon spells her name Jean, Jeanne, Wojan and Wogan across different notices from 1958 to 1975.

History

Beacon school notices track her from 1958, when “Jeannie Wojan, daughter of Walter and Vera Wojan,” is listed among the school’s 100% spellers, through her 1967 graduation, at which she received the Reader’s Digest Association’s annual leadership award as an honor student. She married John Wayne Gillespie at a wedding that drew 500 guests to the Holy Cross Parish Hall reception; her sister Angela Wojan served as a bridesmaid, her sister Ann Wojan carried a basket of roses, and her brothers Edward and Ronald Wojan stood as groomsman and usher. A November 1975 birth notice, spelling her name “Jeanne Wogan,” records the birth of a daughter, Rene Therese.

Evidence and limits

The 1967 wedding notice and 1958 spelling notice both explicitly name her as a daughter of Walter and Vera Wojan, which is the direct source for her parentage and siblings recorded here. The bridge from the 1967 bride to the 1975 mother rests on the matching husband (Gillespie) and location, not an explicit statement that they are the same woman, though no source contradicts it. A separate 1962 notice, Jean Wogan, reports a “Jean Wogan” injured on a youth sleigh ride; her school-age progression (tracked at grade 4 in 1959 through senior year in 1967) is consistent with this being the same girl several years before her wedding, but that notice does not itself state her parentage, so the link is recorded as probable rather than certain.

Sources

See the sources block above.

Added 3 August 2026 · revised 4 August 2026. Recent changes