Eric Adam Gillespie, 38, loving son of Joanne (Sleeper) Gillespie of Newark, DE, and formerly Londonderry, NH, died unexpectedly March 7, 2022.
Eric spent most of his childhood in NH and was a 2001 graduate of Londonderry High School.
Following graduation, he worked at several local businesses and then joined the US Army. He served from 2005 through 2011 and was deployed to Iraq during the Global War on Terror. He reached the rank of Sergeant and was extremely proud of his Combat Infantryman’s Badge. He made close and lasting friends with his Army brethren, especially Pierce, Ordmandy, Rhia, Sami, Nave, Andersen, Plant, Cauthorn (RIP), Bishop, Goins, Lewis,Travis and numerous others. In recent years he had not been in touch as often as he should, but he had the greatest love, admiration, and respect for them.
Following his discharge, Eric attended Bunker Hill Community College in Boston. He loved living in Boston; Fenway Park and the North End were two of his favorite places on earth. He also had a special love for Hermosa Beach, CA, where he spent many weekends with friends and Army brothers while stationed in CA.
Eric’s passion in life was music; he was self-taught on the guitar and enjoyed playing the drums. He loved a variety of music genres, especially hard core. He played in a band with several high school friends and later wrote his own songs. He loved his Londonderry friends Mike, Shaun, Chris, Joe, Ashley, Emily ; his Burlington Vt friends Andrew, Alexis, Abby, and Travis and his Boston friends Rick, Sean, and Rob
In addition to his loving mom Joanne, Eric is survived by his devoted Golden Retriever Scout; Aunts and Uncles Dave & Jan Sleeper of Alton, NH; Rick and Anne Sleeper of Rollinsford, NH; Sharon and Dan Marcotte of Wolfeboro, NH; Claire Sleeper of Newark, DE, Judy Carlson Sleeper of Rochester, NH; Barbara and Al Yameen of Georgetown, MA; Don Gillespie of Groveland, MA; Dave Gillespie of Haverhill, MA. and Candice Cronin Lowe of Derry, NH
Eric is also survived by his loving cousins, Stephanie, Shaun, DJ, Jack, Lindsay, Sarah, Jason, Victor, Amy, Mark, Jennifer, Katie, and Dave.
Eric is survived by his father, Bob Gillespie, wife Judi, and daughters Kimlie and Telanie, of Brentwood NH.
Eric was predeceased by his maternal and paternal grandparents; Ginny (Sleeper) and Jim McManus and Bill and Evelyn Gillespie. He was also predeceased by his loving Uncle, Steve Sleeper of Rochester NH.
Eric will be remembered as intelligent, kind, compassionate, introspective, sensitive and having an incredible wit and dry sense of humor. His love of music was matched only by his love of animals. He was always an advocate for the underdog. Eric had a loving heart and we all take comfort in the fact that another young man in his thirties will now have life through Eric’s heart donation.
In his memory please consider donating to your local chapter of DAV https://www.dav.org/membership/local-chapters/ or the NH SPCA @ https://nhspca.org/commemorative-gifts/ .
A celebration of life will be held Saturday, May 14 at Peabody Funeral Homes and Crematorium, 290 Mammoth Rd, Londonderry. Visitation will be from 8:00-9:00 AM followed by a period of sharing memories from 9:00-10:30AM. Interment will follow at Holy Cross Cemetery, Londonderry.