Death claims former owner editor of The Crosbyton Review, Ben Gillespie
Ben Marvin Gillespie, 73 of Crosbyton and Editor, Publisher, and previous owner of The Crosby County News and Chronicle, was buried Saturday, Feb. 7, 2004, in the Crosbyton Cemetery.
He died at 9:45 p.m. Wednesday Feb. 4, 2004, in the Crosbyton Nursing and Rehabilitation Center following a battle with cancer.
Services were held Saturday, Feb. 7, at the First Baptist Church with Rev. Les Griffin, pastor, officiating. Funeral arrangements were under the direction of Adams Funeral Home of Crosbyton.
Mr. Gillespie was the previous owner of The News and Chronicle from 1995 until 2001 when it was sold to Terry and Debbie Ervin.
He operated the paper along with his wife, Donna, since February of 1988. During the year of 1989, they founded and published The Caprock Chronicle, which later merged with The Crosby County News in 1990.
His wife, Donna Gillespie, who died Feb. 12, 2001, from a lengthy battle with cancer, precedes Ben in death.
He was born April 3, 1930, in Waco to Ben Malcom and Angela Hoffman Gillespie. He graduated form Waco High School in 1948 and went on to attend college at Sam Houston State University which was then called Sam Houston State Teachers College. In 1952, he entered the United States Air Force and went on to serve overseas during the Korean conflict. He served in Japan from 1954 to 1955 while stationed at Yokota Air Force Base in Honshu, Japan.
He was also editor of the base newspaper in Del Rio and Victoria, TX. He was able to return to Sam Houston State Teachers College before serving in Japan to complete his degree in Journalism in 1954. He then entered the Air Force Reserve from 1956 to 1960 after receiving an honorable discharge. Mr. Gillespie was only hours away from receiving his pilot's license.
He held numerous jobs after leaving the Air Force. He worked for the Houston Chamber of Commerce, Browning Ferris, Southern Union Gas Company of Dallas, Houston Sports Association, TRW Inc., Public Relations Representative for the Houston Astrodome, and was the first Public Relations Representative for the NASA space program during the Apollo, Gemini, and Mercury missions.
He married Donna Griffin on July 25, 1979, in Houston. Ben and Donna along with their two children returned to Crosbyton in 1988
He was a member of the Crosbyton School Board, the White River board of directors and the Crosbyton chamber of Commerce. He was also a member of Lions Club, VFW Post 1680, and the First United Methodist Church. He belonged to the Panhandle Press Association, the West Texas Press Association, and the Texas Press Association where he and his wife won numerous awards for excellence in advertising and editorial work.
He is survived by five children, Marcus Gillespie and wife, Sunisa, of Huntsville, TX; David Chad Gillespie of Savannah, GA; Shannah Adem and husband, Marty, of Alexandria, VA; Angela Baker and husband, Henry, of Richardson, TX; and Allison Courtney Gillespie of Crosbyton, TX. Nine grandchildren, Bradley Bauer of Dallas, Thomas Baker of Richardson, Sam and Clay Hale of Nacogdoches, Aaron Gillespie of Huntsville, and Aidan Gillespie of Crosbyton, Sarah Colavito of Dallas, Amber Baker of Richardson, and Asia Gillespie of Huntsville.
The family suggests memorials to the Joe Arrington Cancer Center of Lubbock, 4101 22nd St., Lubbock, TX. 79410
IN REMEMBRANCE of her father, Allison Gillespie wants The Crosbyton Review readers to know the following:
Journalism was dad's passion and reporting the news to the community was something he cared about very much. Yet not many people knew and fully appreciated the commitment and sacrifice he gave to put out a paper every week.
There are three things that always remain the same in Journalism no matter how much things change. One is the central role of journalism in a democratic society.
Another is the important of accuracy and fairness in filling that role. A third is the continuing need for you and all others who would be journalists to master the basic skills of reporting and writing - no matter what tools you use or how your reports reach the public.
YET AMID all the changes, two traditions remain central.
The first is the professional ethic that demands accuracy and fairness of every journalist.
The second, more difficult and easier to attack, is the tradition of objectivity.
The two come together when we try to sum up what it is that reporters and editors are trying to do with their work.
THERE ARE also two questions that every responsible journalist should ask about every story before being satisfied: Is it accurate? Is it fair?
Accuracy is the most important characteristic of any story, great or small, long or short. Also, you must approach the truth while being fair.
FAIRNESS requires that you as a reporter try to find every viewpoint on a story. Fairness requires that you allow ample opportunity for response to anyone who is being attacked or whose integrity is being questioned in a story. Fairness requires, above all, that you make every effort to avoid following your own biases in your reporting and your writing.
Dad lived by all these principles and up until the last paper he wrote, he followed these principles.
Following these rules wasn't as easy as it seems. He had to make a lot of hard decisions during his time as editor, but he always reported the news with an unbiased viewpoint.
Like my father once said, "Don't shoot he messenger."
BE THANKFUL that you have a newspaper that reports the news accurately and fairly and that the community has a public forum to voice their opinion.
The Crosbyton Review, Friday, Feb. 13, 2004, page 1
Obituary
Services for Ben Marvin Gillespie, 73, of Crosbyton were held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 7, at Crosbyton First Baptist Church with the Rev. Les Griffin officiating. Burial was held in Crosbyton Cemetery under direction of Adams Funeral Home of Crosbyton.
He died Feb. 4, 2004, at the Crosbyton Nursing Home.
Ben was born April 3, 1930, in Waco to Ben Malcolm and Angela Hoffman Gillespie. He graduated from Waco High School in 1948 and entered Sam Houston State University the following year to study what would become his life-long passion - journalism. It was there that he met his first wife, and they subsequently had three children: Shannah, Ben Marcus and Angela Sue. Prior to graduating from Sam Houston, he joined the United States Air Force during the Korean conflict. During his enlistment, he developed his skills as a writer by serving as the editor of the base newspaper in Del Rio, TX, Yokota Air Force Base in Japan and in Victoria, TX. AFter being honorably discharged in 1956, he completed his journalism degree and subsequently went to work for the Chamber Commerce in Houston. He left the Chamber to join the Public Affairs Office an NASA as the first spokesman of the Space Program and remained at NASA during the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs. Later he worked at TRW, Inc., Browning Ferris, and Southern Union Gas Company in Dallas. It was here that he met his second wife, Donna. Ben and Donna returned to Donna's hometown of Crosbyton with their children David Chad and Allison Courtney, in 1988 to become the editors and eventually owners of the Crosby County News and Chronicle.
Ben loved the paper and by working long hours and many sleepless nights he managed to keep it afloat when times were hard for both his family and the community. During his steward as editor the paper won award from the Texas Press Association and the Sam Houston State University Journalism Department. He always believed that he had a responsibility to ask questions and to questions and to follow the truth wherever it led, to be fair and unbiased in his reporting, and to allow the people of the community to voice their opinions on any issue of public interest. To Ben, a good newspaper was not simply words on a page, it was the basis for an open, democratic society.
Ben also served his community as a member of the Crosbyton City Council, the Crosbyton Chamber of Commerce, the Crosbyton School Board and the Crosbyton White River board of directors and the Lions Club. He was a member of the Crosbyton First United Methodist Church, and VFW Post 1680.
Ben's wife, Donna preceded him in death in 2001, but Ben remained with the paper until he succumbed to a 23 year battle with cancer that he fought with great courage and dignity. Ben will always be remembered for his love of the written word, his commitment to his dreams, his kind spirit and the smile he had for everyone he met. He will be greatly missed by those he has left behind - his children and their spouses: Shannah an Marty Adem of Alexandria, VA; Marcus and Sunisa Gillespie of Huntsville, TX; Angela and Henry Baker of Richardson, TX; Chad Gillespie of Savannah, GA and Allison Gillespie of Crosbyton, and his grandchildren: Sarah Elisabeth Colavito, William Bradley Bauer, Clayton burnett Hale, Samuel Davis Hale, Amber Lynn Baker, Aaron Sirah Gillespie, Asia Panmenee Gillespie, Thomas Henry Baker and Aidan Sebastion Gillespie. Dad (Papa), we love you.
The Crosbyton Review, Friday, Feb. 13, 2004, page 8
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