Derallin Campbell Gillespie

COLUMBIA - Derallin passed away Saturday, August 20, 2022. A funeral service for Derallin “Dee” Campbell Gillespie, 87, will be held at 1:00 p.m. Saturday, August 27, 2022 at Dunbar Funeral Home, Devine Street Chapel, with burial in Forest Lawn Memory Gardens, Abbeville, S.C. at 4:00 p.m. The family will receive friends from 12:00 until 1:00 p.m. prior to the service at the funeral home.

Born in Calhoun Falls, S.C., on June 20, 1935 she was the first-born daughter of the late Thomas Campbell and Rudell Putnam Campbell and nine years later gained her beloved baby sister Sara Lee Campbell. Their life in Calhoun Falls was a treasured time for Derallin enriched by the community, family and friends.

At a community dance, she met handsome young army Lieutenant James Marshall Gillespie, and they married soon after. They began their life together overseas on assignment in Japan. Derallin worked for the Commanding Officer as secretary with extraordinary shorthand skills. They lived many places including Germany and throughout the U.S. during his military career, before finally settling in Columbia, S.C., where they made their permanent home. They enjoyed 48 years together.

Their lives were not without difficulty. Marshall chose to join Alcoholics Anonymous to save his life, marriage, and family, and together they served the needs of others battling alcoholism. Derallin devoted much of her time to working with many spouses and families, comforting and helping them through the Al Anon program.

Derallin was the epitome of a mother and grandmother, adoring her family and always prioritizing her loved ones and friends, offering them guidance, acceptance, and unconditional love. She enjoyed singing, walks, crafts, and Bible Study. She was a member of Spring Valley Presbyterian Church.

Surviving are her son, David M. Gillespie of Columbia, SC; daughter, Tracie Gillespie Dent (Jack) of Alpharetta, GA; six grandchildren, Jason, Brian, and Austen Gillespie, and Elizabeth, Sarah, and Harry Dent; and three great grandchildren, Grady, Claire and Ian.

In addition to her parents, she was predeceased by her first husband, James Marshall Gillespie, her sister, Sara Lee Crittendon, her eldest son James T. Gillespie (Laurel) of Batesburg Leesville, SC and her second husband, James Lyle Hutter.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association https://act.alz.org/donate