# Dean M. Gillespie

Dean Milton Gillespie (May 3, 1884 – February 2, 1949) was an American businessman and politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Colorado from 1944 to 1947.

## Early life and education

Born in Salina, Kansas, the youngest son of Dr. D. M. Gillespie and Mrs. D. M. Gillespie of Blaine Township, Clay County, Kansas. His father has been a pioneer of Kansas and was a physician. He also published a temperance newspaper entitled, The Rising Sun.
Gillespie attended the public schools and Salina Normal University. He engaged in agricultural pursuits and cattle raising in Clay County, Kansas, from 1900 to 1904.

## Career

He moved to Denver, Colorado, in 1905 and worked as grocery clerk, sign painter, and salesman. He engaged in the automobile and oil business since 1905. Gillespie founded Power Equipment Company and incorporated under the corporate laws of Colorado on September 14, 1936. Operations were initially conducted through two affiliated corporations, Power Equipment Co. and Dean Gillespie & Co., which firms controlled the franchises for Allis-Chalmers Construction Equipment and White Motor trucks.
Gillespie was elected as a Republican to the 78th Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Lawrence Lewis, reelected to the 79th Congress, and served from March 7, 1944, to January 3, 1947. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1946 to the 80th Congress.
He then returned to his former business pursuits. He was president of Dean Gillespie & Company, president of Motoroyal Oil Company, and vice president of BluHill Food Corporation. He was an Elk, Mason, Shriner and a member of a number organizations.

## Personal life

He married Lillie Baldwin on January 29, 1908, in Golden, Colorado. They had two daughters. One of his daughters, Ruth Gillespie, was an attorney in Denver. Lillie died in 1941.
He had the world's largest collection of meteorites and often gave talks about meteorites.

### Death and burial

He checked himself into Johns Hopkins Hospital while on a business trip and died of a heart attack on February 2, 1949, in Baltimore, Maryland. He was interred in Fairmount Cemetery, Denver, Colorado.

## Electoral history

1944 United States House of Representatives special election, Colorado's 1st district :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Dean M. Gillespie | 41,319 | 51.55% |
| | Democratic | Carl E. Wuertele | 38,394 | 47.90% |
| | Socialist | Edgar P. Sherman | 230 | 0.29% |
| | Independent | George M. Phillips | 160 | 0.20% |
| | Liberal | Frank H. Rice | 51 | 0.06% |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,925 | 3.65% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 80,154 | 100% |
| | Republican gain from Democratic | Republican gain from Democratic | Republican gain from Democratic | Republican gain from Democratic |
1944 United States House of Representatives elections, Colorado's 1st district (general) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Dean M. Gillespie (incumbent) | 90,151 | 51.75% |
| | Democratic | Charles A. Graham | 83,253 | 47.79% |
| | Socialist | Edgar P. Sherman | 798 | 0.46% |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,898 | 3.96% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 174,202 | 100% |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |
1946 United States House of Representatives elections, Colorado's 1st district :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | John A. Carroll | 60,513 | 51.75% |
| | Republican | Dean M. Gillespie (incumbent) | 55,724 | 47.66% |
| | Socialist | Edgar P. Sherman | 691 | 0.59% |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,789 | 4.09% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 116,928 | 100% |
| | Democratic gain from Republican | Democratic gain from Republican | Democratic gain from Republican | Democratic gain from Republican |