If I remember correctly, Jimmy died during our TAHS years -- junior year, I think. I knew him from the cross-country team. He was working at night at one of the service stations at the top of Browns Hill. After work, he was driving his rear-engine Chevy Corvair out of the station. His car was thrown by the streetcar tracks that were still there at the time into the path of an oncoming truck. Ralph Nader could have had Jimmy in mind when he wrote his classic Unsafe at Any Speed in 1965 as chapter 1 was about the hazards of the Corvair.
Jimmy was a "good guy". I remember that the school administration tried to block his friends from going to his funeral and said it would be an unexcused absence. That didn't stop a large group of Lincoln Place and Greenfield kids to go and show their respects. If I remember correctly, my neighbor Bill "BooBoo" Carey tried to save Jimmy and ended up with burns on his arms. How sad that he died as he did.
I went to school with Jimmy Gillespie from Kindergarten, elementary and high school until his death. I remember that he was always nice to me and when he had that tragic death, I was in total schock.
Frank Raspey
what a great individual!
Frank Raspey
...Jimmey always laughed and smiled a lot...tragedy struck way to soon! RIP bro!
Tom Allison
If I remember correctly, Jimmy died during our TAHS years -- junior year, I think. I knew him from the cross-country team. He was working at night at one of the service stations at the top of Browns Hill. After work, he was driving his rear-engine Chevy Corvair out of the station. His car was thrown by the streetcar tracks that were still there at the time into the path of an oncoming truck. Ralph Nader could have had Jimmy in mind when he wrote his classic Unsafe at Any Speed in 1965 as chapter 1 was about the hazards of the Corvair.
Andrew Yaremko
Jimmy was a "good guy". I remember that the school administration tried to block his friends from going to his funeral and said it would be an unexcused absence. That didn't stop a large group of Lincoln Place and Greenfield kids to go and show their respects. If I remember correctly, my neighbor Bill "BooBoo" Carey tried to save Jimmy and ended up with burns on his arms. How sad that he died as he did.
Barbara Bertenthal (Vogel)
I went to school with Jimmy Gillespie from Kindergarten, elementary and high school until his death. I remember that he was always nice to me and when he had that tragic death, I was in total schock.
Judy Feldman (Agnew)
Feldman-Gillespie, we sat next to one another in lots of classes. He had a fantastic sense of humor, great laugh and was pretty adorable.