Obituaries

Martha Diane Whiteside Gillelan, age 59, of 1435 Miles Road in Dallas, died on Sunday, April 27, 2014.

Her funeral service will be 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 1, 2014, in the Warlick Funeral Home Chapel with Pastor Chad Walker officiating. Burial will follow in the Philadelphia Lutheran Church Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 12:30 until 1:45 p.m. prior to the service at the funeral home.

Mrs. Gillelan was born October 1, 1954, in Waco, TX to Faye Carroll Whiteside and the late Arnold Whiteside. In addition to her father, she was also preceded in death by a son, Brian Lee Sheppard. She worked as a special education teacher.

She is survived by her husband, James Gillelan, Sr. of the home; daughter, Misty Gillelan and husband Joe of Dallas; son, James Gillelan, II and wife Jennifer; mother, Faye Whiteside of Lincolnton; daughter-in-law Jaime Wright and husband James; two sisters, Evelyn Helms of Lincolnton and Nancy Dutton of Louisville, KY; and eleven grandchildren, Joey Gillelan, Noah Gillelan, Alexis Gillelan, Katie Gillelan, Stephanie Gillelan, Helen Gillelan, James Gillelan, III, Michael Gillelan, Brittany McMahan, Ciara Wright, and James Earl Wright.

Memorials may be made to the High Shoals Volunteer Fire Department, in memory of Brian Lee Sheppard, 110 Thomkins Street, High Shoals, NC 28077.