Peacefully on St. Patricks Day with his wife Lorna holding his hand, her beloved and cherished husband, Partner in Life and best friend. Jim had faced recent major health issues with courage and fortitude, never losing his sense of humour, optimism or patience. Jim was born in Ville La Salle, Montreal to Thomas Gillespie and Hilda Gillespie (nee Barnes) who immigrated to Canada from Belfast, N. Ireland in 1928. He has enjoyed a successful business career in marketing and sales and thrived on the challenges it presented, initially in Quebec and later in Ontario. A mutual friend brought Jim and Lorna together and they married in 1976 at St. Bruno, Quebec prior to his transfer to Ontario where they have resided in Oakville happily since. Jim will be remembered as a kind, gentle and thoughtful man with a warm smile, welcoming many friends to their home over the years with good conversation and generous tables. He had a wonderful sense of humour and a seemingly inexhaustible supply of anecdotes which leave us with fond memories. Although he and Lorna enjoyed extensive travel for business and pleasure he was a home-body at heart and loved the quiet times with Lorna enjoying a good book, crosswords, Sudoku and fine wines while listening to his favourite jazz. For his own entertainment he played guitar and mastered the clarinet as a young man. Their gardens also brought him pride and pleasure. Belonging to Kahnawake Golf Club in Montreal brought a lifelong interest in the game. Jim will be missed by many friends who have retired and moved away to Mexico, B.C, and the U.S and also by Lorna's extended family in the UK who so warmly welcomed him. We are blessed to have so many happy memories of a Life Well Lived. A memorial service to celebrate the life of Jim will take place at 11:00 am on Tuesday, March 24, 2015 at St. Jude's Anglican Church, 160 William Street, Oakville. In lieu of flowers a donation in his memory to a charity of your choice would be appreciated.

"Raise a glass to his memory. We will keep him in our hearts and just remember, a kiss is just a kiss and a sigh is just a sigh as time goes by ."

Rest In Peace