Roger L. Gillespie was born April 25, 1943 in Grand Island, NE. He passed away on April 6, 2015 at the Cherry County Hospital in Valentine.
Roger attended school in Burwell, NE and graduated in 1961. After graduation he entered the United States Air Force and was sent to Indiana University for intensive Russian Language training after basic training.
While in Indiana, Roger met his future wife, Patty, and they were married on May 16, 1962. To this union two children were born. After their marriage the couple moved to Karamursel Air Station in Turkey. While stationed there, Roger's duty in the Air Force was to intercept transmissions of Russian air traffic and Cosmonauts. By accident, because of a Russian transmitter that was left on, he was able to identify the first woman in space, Russian Cosmonaut, Valentina Tereshkova. Roger and Patty moved back to the United States in 1964.
Roger was discharged in May of 1965 and the couple moved to Lincoln, NE. He attended school at UNL and later moved to Boise, Idaho. While working for an engineering firm in Boise, Roger continued his education at Boise State University. He graduated in June of 1976 with majors in Accounting and Finance. They then moved to Denver, CO to work for Tosco Corporation. In 1989, Roger boarded a plane to Frankfurt, Germany, where he spent 5-1/2 years working and touring Europe. He returned to Denver in 1989. Roger retired in 2005 and later moved to Valentine, NE in 2006.
Roger loved to develop computer programs, listen to old time radio, collected stamps and model trains. He was a world traveler, visiting Europe, Hawaii, Canada and Alaska. He was an avid Nebraska sports fan, particularly, football, basketball. He was always telling his family, "If you can't do anything about something, don't worry about it."
He was preceded in death by his mother, Leona Jurgenson, and his brother, Harley Jurgenson.
Roger is survived by his wife, Patty of Valentine; son, Gavin of Phoenix, AZ; daughter, Julienne Romano of Westminster, CO; grandchildren, Tracey and Tyler Abrego, Mikaela and Dominic Romano. Also surviving are brothers, Jerry, Ron and Roland (Doc) Jurgenson and one sister, Sheryl Holt. Also, sisters-in-law Eileen, Carleen, and Lois Jurgenson, and brother-in-law Bill Holt.
Memorial service for Roger Gillespie was held on Saturday, April 11 at Sandoz Chapel of the Pines in Valentine. Rev. Scott McClellen officiated at the 1:00 PM service. Sandoz Chapel of the Pines was in charge of service arrangements.