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Last updated on Wednesday, April 27, 2016
(MITCHELL) - A portion of State Road 37 near Mitchell was dedicated Tuesday afternoon and named “Trooper Robert Gillespie Memorial Mile.”
The dedication, hosted by Rep. Eric Koch, was done at the Lawrence County Court House.
Koch authored House Concurrent Resolution 58, which established the Memorial Mile and was passed unanimously by the Indiana House of Representatives this session.
Trooper Gillespie gave his life in the line of duty on June, 1962. While enroute to the town of Mitchell in response to a request for assistance, Trooper Gillespie, who was traveling at a high rate of speed with emergency lights on, was forced to leave the road when a pick-up truck slowed in front of him. Leaving the highway to avoid the truck, Trooper Gillespie swerved back on the highway to avoid another car in his path. His vehicle was then struck by another car. Trooper Gillespie died as a result of his injuries.
After graduating from Bedford High School in 1946, Gillespie enlisted in the United States Navy and served in Cuba from 1946 - 1949. After attending Indiana University in the spring of 1950, Gillespie married his sweetheart, Ms. Naomi Pierce in May of that same year.
Gillespie applied for the Indiana State Police in the summer of 1950 and was sworn in on his 23rd birthday, September 1, 1950
Speaking at the ceremony was Scott Gillespie, who is one of Trooper Gillespie's son; Douglas G. Carter, superintendent of the ISP; Jim Richardson, the ISP officer who took Gillespie's place in the schedule; Erin Raper, district volunteer chaplain for ISP, and Jason Tiller, southwest communications director for the Indiana Department of Transportation.
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