Dorene E. Gillespie (Gillispie)

Dorene Elaine Gillespie, 82, formerly of Stamford, Connecticut, passed away on September 20, 2026, in Georgia. She was born on December 13, 1943, in Hope Bay, Union, Portland, Jamaica, West Indies, to the late Patrick Augustus Gillespie and Doris Maude (Skyers) Gillespie Murphy. One of twelve children and a twin to her brother Trevor, she grew up among a family whose roots run deep in Portland parish — St. Margaret's Bay, Hope Bay and Port Antonio.

In 1968, Dorene arrived in New York City, where she stayed with her sister Louise until taking a job in Greenwich, Connecticut. She started out as an au pair and worked her way up, holding positions with Consolidated Diesel and several other companies before joining the City of Stamford, where she served as an account clerk in the Tax Assessor's Office until her retirement in the early 2000s. Those who worked alongside her remember a quiet, calm woman who was quick to pick up new tasks, good with the public, and no pushover — she took her work seriously and spoke her mind when it was called for. She was well liked by everyone.

Her son, Mike, who had remained in Jamaica, arrived in the United States in 1971 and lived with his Aunt Louise until joining his mother in Connecticut in 1972. In the early 1970s she met Willie Charles Condry Jr., who remained her companion until his death in 2011.

She was guided all her life by hard work, strong ethics, a sense of purpose and an unshakable devotion to family. No matter how tight things were, money went home to her family in Jamaica. She was a strict mother who raised her son to stand on his own, and a generous, doting grandmother who could never say no to her grandchildren. A woman of faith, she worshipped at Christ Episcopal Church in Stratford, Connecticut, where she served as an usher.

Dorene loved to cook, and she could bake. Her black cake was second to none — so sought after that it traveled by express service to family and friends across the country.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Patrick Gillespie and Doris Murphy; her companion, Willie Charles Condry Jr.; her twin brother, Trevor Gillespie; her sister, Louise Evelyn Gillespie; and her brothers, Tony Gillespie, Durval Gillespie, Warren Roy Gillespie, Keith Ransford Gillespie Sr., Howard Earl Gillespie and Lloyd Gillespie.

She leaves to cherish her memory her son, Herman "Mike" Prawl, and his wife, Dr. Donna Woods-Prawl, of Georgia; her grandchildren, Chante' Dominique Prawl and Clayton Archibald Ingraham Prawl; her sisters, Norma Gillespie, Aloma Florene (Murphy) Ebanks and Violet Isolyn "Joy" (Murphy) Wright; and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends in Jamaica and the United States.