Robert Gillespie Obituary

Former Durango resident Robert Lee Gillespie died unexpectedly Monday, Dec. 23, 2013, in Tempe, Ariz. He was 48. The cause of death is undetermined at this time.

Known as "Rob," "Rockin'" and "Robbie," he was born to Anne and Bill Gillespie on April 15, 1965, in Fort Collins. He attended schools in Denver, Aurora and Fort Collins.

In 1990, Mr. Gillespie graduated from Fort Lewis College with a bachelor's degree in business administration-finance. His high scholastic achievement in the study of business was recognized by his induction into the international honor society Beta Gamma Sigma.

Mr. Gillespie was an outstanding international caver, who traveled many places to explore and map caves, his family said. His interest in exploring caves began when visiting Owl Cave near Fort Collins while in junior high. His travels took him to Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Utah, New Mexico, California, Washington D.C., New York, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Mexico, Indonesia, Thailand, China and Peru.

Mr. Gillespie was a volunteer surveyor for the National Park Service at Lechugilla Cave in New Mexico. He helped discover the deepest known cave in Indonesia (minus 388 meters) on April 15, 1998.

Over the years, Mr. Gillespie worked for Woodward Governor Co., was a self-employed painter and was a financial manager for Fenestra Window & Door Inc. and River Valley Estates. He had lived in the Durango area for much of the last 20 years.

Mr. Gillespie is survived by his parents, Anne and Bill Gillespie of Steamboat Springs and Tucson, Ariz.; grandmother Clara Heermann of Sterling; and aunts, uncles, cousins and extended family members.

A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Sunday, May 4, 2014, at Sky Ute Casino & Resort, 14324 Colorado Highway 172. For more information, call Anne Gillespie at (970) 819-1391.

His family asks that friends plant a tree in his memory.