OPEN WIDE AND SAY 'AHHH'

She gave me my first paying job. I was not quite 9 when, as a second-floor boarder at her 509 East Seventh home in Galena, she asked if I would gather the dead, dry leaves on her back lawn to feed her goat. She supplied a wicker basket for the chore. A long and tall cylinder, it would take some filling. That was because she had strongly emphasized "dry leaves," and it had just recently rained. I received a dime for my effort. More than fair. Sadly, she passed on not long after. I much admired her and her place in life. Even at my young age, I knew her being a dentist going that far back in time was unusual for a woman.

Myself, with my grandparents, had been forced to move from our humble ("modest" would be an upgrade) house in Cave Springs that would soon be leveled to make room for a chemical fertilizer plant.

Lolo D. (Blanton) Gillespie, born April 5, 1867, in Asheville, No. Caro. She was 84 when she passed away in Galena on Feb. 22, 1952. She married Charles Parker Gillespie in 1884. He began a dentistry practice in 1885.

Her one daughter, Dora, was born November 3, 1885. In 1908 Dora married George M. Barrell, in Columbus, Kan. Dora passed away in December 1972. Around 1908, her one son, George, was attending Wentworth Military Academy in Lexington, Mo. He passed on in 1965 at age 76.