Margaret Jewett Gillispie

Margaret Jewett Gillispie, 98,  died peacefully at home on June  4, 2016 after a long struggle with dementia.  She was born in Elk Park, NC in Avery County on April 11, 1918, to Fred and Lily Gray Jewett.  She moved to Raleigh a year later with her parents and two older brothers and grew up in the Millbrook community during the years of the Great Depression.  Her father worked for the Railroad and the family always had food on the table and even took boarders into their home.  During WWII, Margaret joined the WAVES – Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service – as part of the US Navy, and spent the rest of the war based out of New York, working as a Pharmacist’s Mate.  In 1947, on her birthday,  she married Chester Gillispie, a Railroad man himself with Seaboard Coastline, and they began their lives together in Raleigh that would last 56 years.  Margaret enjoyed being a homemaker, caring for their daughter and providing a warm, loving  home, surrounded by wonderful neighbors and friends.  Later on,  Margaret worked as a librarian at the Olivia Raney Library on Fayetteville Street  where she used her love of books to help others, and enjoyed the comradeship of the library staff there.  She and Chet were faithful members of Forest Hills Baptist Church for many years where they both were active in Sunday School and Training Union, influencing many lives along the way and developing friendships that would  last the rest of their lives. Margaret is survived by her daughter, Jane Gillispie Stokes and husband Felix, of Raleigh; a granddaughter, Meg Stokes Woods and husband Noah, of Wilmington, NC  and  three great grandchildren, Lily, Aiden and Ruby Jane.  In addition to her parents, Margaret was predeceased by her husband, Chester, her two brothers, Walter Gray Jewett of Orlando, FL and Frederick Paul Jewett of Fort Bragg, CA   and a grandson, Matthew Stokes, of Raleigh. The family will receive friends from  12:30-2:00 pm on Tuesday, June 7, 2016, at Bryan-Lee Funeral Home, 831 Wake Forest Road, Raleigh, NC 27604,  with  the  service following in the funeral home chapel at 2:00 PM.  Burial will be private. Margaret received excellent care from her caregivers, Rose, Lillian and Yvonne,  and from her nurse Vera and aide Lauren of Heartland Hospice.  We are indebted to them for their compassion and high level of skill shown to our Mom and Nana. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial contributions  be sent to Forest Hills Baptist Church, 201 Dixie Trail, Raleigh, NC 27607 or Heartland Hospice, 4505 Falls of Neuse Rd, Suite 650, Raleigh, NC 27609. “…my cup overflows.     Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” – from Psalm 23