In Loving Memory of Marilyn Gillespie

Marilyn Gillespie passed away on April 2 at the age of 90. She was born in Clayton New Mexico the oldest child of Leo and Abbie Butt.

Memorial Services will be held at 11:00 AM Central Time on Monday, April 10, 2023, at the First Baptist Church in Boise City, Oklahoma with Rev. Trevor Bulls, pastor officiating.

Marilyn was a country girl growing up on the EZ cattle ranch south of Clayton. After graduating from Clayton High School and attending the University of New Mexico she met her future husband Cletis Gillespie at a party in Clayton in which they each had arrived on a different date. They married in 1953 and were together until Cletis` passing in 2016.

Shortly after getting married Marilyn and Cletis moved to Boise City Oklahoma where Cletis ran the Phillips 66 truck stop for many years. Marilyn taught Sunday School at the Baptist Church for a time and was primarily a housewife at different periods who worked at the soil conservation service, the courthouse, and for Mr. French on the courthouse square (where she once met T. Boone Pickens). After Cletis retired (semi) they moved to and worked at the Zurich Ranch in Stead New Mexico south of Clayton where they enjoyed the wide-open spaces and the millions of stars in the pitch-black night sky. Later in life, they moved to and resided in Madisonville Kentucky to be near their son Scott.

Marilyn loved the big sky country of the Oklahoma panhandle and her beloved New Mexico (she always said Kentucky had “too many trees!”), playing lively games of bridge with friends, summer trips to the mountains in the Land of Enchantment, horse racing in Raton, Elvis Presley, and Aqua Net hairspray. But her greatest love was her husband Cletis and family of three boys Greg, Mark, and Scott, and subsequent grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She traveled countless miles across the high plains area supporting the kid’s sports and other activities. Mom was a dependable, calm, loving presence for her family.

Marilyn is survived by her sons Greg of San Diego California, Mark (Jacque) of Boise City Oklahoma, and Scott of Madisonville Kentucky, nine grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren, sister-in-law Joyce Butt of Albuquerque New Mexico and numerous cousins, nieces, and nephews.
She was predeceased by her parents, sisters Ann Swagerty (Jerry), Jane Cowart (George), Phyllis Stevenson (Taylor), brother Bill Butt, daughter-in-law Barbara Gillespie and grandson Grant Gillespie.

We will miss but never forget our loving mother, grandmother, great grandmother.