President Valerie Smith shared the following message with the campus community on July 29, 2026:

Dear Friends,

I write with the sad news that former associate vice president for alumni relations, publications, and public relations Maralyn Rose Orbison Gillespie ’49 died peacefully on Friday, July 17, at her home in Kennett Square, Pa. She was 98.

For nearly 40 years and in numerous capacities, Maralyn devoted herself to supporting current students, fellow alumni, and everyone associated with the College, perhaps most especially as the longtime editor of The Bulletin. She is remembered for cultivating a life of grace and style with humility and humor.

Maralyn was predeceased by George Gillespie Jr., her husband of 64 years, in March. She is survived by her nieces Susan Gillespie Gaudio and Lisa Gillespie Van Ostenbridge (Dan) and her nephew Bill Gillespie (Debbie), as well as seven great-nieces and nephews and seven great-grand-nieces and nephews. 

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the Scott Arboretum & Gardens, where she was a longtime and dedicated volunteer. Services will be private.

I invite you to read more below about Maralyn and her many contributions to our community. 

 Sincerely,

Val Smith
President
Roy J. and Linda G. Shanker Presidential Chair

 In Honor of Former Vice President Maralyn Orbison Gillespie ’49

Retired associate vice president for alumni relations, publications, and public relations Maralyn Rose Orbison Gillespie ’49 died on Friday, July 17, at 98. With her passing, the Swarthmore community has lost one of its most stalwart, influential, and generous champions. 

Gillespie grew up in New Albany, Ind., the daughter of an attorney. A friend of her father had a daughter who attended Swarthmore and recommended it to her, so she applied. Once, expressing surprise that she had been admitted, she said with characteristic humility: “I think they needed people from Indiana.”

At Swarthmore, she majored in English literature and minored in history. She also captained the golf team for two years. After graduation, she completed a yearlong secretarial course before obtaining a position at Stokely Foods in Chicago. She then returned to Philadelphia to accept a secretarial position at Curtis Publishing’s Country Gentleman magazine. Promotions came rapidly for her there, and after two years she served as the magazine’s associate editor.

Gillespie returned to Swarthmore in Fall 1955 as assistant dean of women. The following year, vocational coun­seling and placement services, a precursor to Career Services, were brought together in one office for the first time, under her leadership, after a history of serving men and women separately. Later, her responsibilities grew to include the News Office, where her publishing experience became newly relevant.

At the time, the College’s alumni magazine was more of an irregularly published newsletter. Under Gillespie’s skilled direction, it grew to not only reflect her love of Swarthmore, but also to report broadly on the College's impact on the world at large. Numerous national awards followed and confirmed her unswerving commitment to excellence. A gifted writer, she served as editor for 35 years; no one has held the job longer. 

“We started the magazine from nothing,” Gillespie once recalled. “At a conference, one man told me our cover was one of the ugliest he’d ever seen … and then later our magazine was chosen as one of the top 10 in the country!”  

Over the years, Gillespie’s vast knowledge of alumni and their interests and strengths allowed her to enlist their help to assist the College in many ways. She produced and edited Swarthmore Remembered (1964), a collection of essays, reflections, and stories from prominent alumni and faculty in honor of the College’s centennial. In addition to her nationally recognized leadership of The Bulletin, she was deeply involved with programs such as Alumni College Abroad, Swarthmore Connections, Alumni Weekend, and Homecoming, among numerous others, each of which benefited from her close personal attention and involvement. 

Upon her retirement in 1992, Gillespie’s outstanding service was recognized by the College in several ways. On a February afternoon, more than 200 friends attended an all-campus reception where then-Chair of the Board of Managers Neil Austrian ’61 announced the establishment of a faculty travel fund in her name to provide assistance for research purposes or for attendance at alumni events or professional meetings. That evening, the Board honored her at a dinner at Ashton House. A second fund in her name benefits the Arboretum. 

Gillespie’s Bulletin colleagues also paid her special tribute that year. Noting in that May’s issue that she had already turned down a portrait in Parrish Hall, they appointed her editor emerita, a designation that has appeared on the masthead for nearly as long as she served the College. 

A lifelong and award-winning gardener, Gillespie remained connected to the College after she retired as an Arboretum volunteer, assisting with plant propagation, re-potting plants, and planting containers on campus. The Wister Center’s popular George and Maralyn Orbison Gillespie ’49 Room is another reminder of her lasting College connection, as was the pair of Japanese Stewartia trees, given by the Alumni Council for her service, that until recently flanked the entrance of Parrish Hall.

The largest collection of any genus at the Arboretum is Rhododendron, of which John Wister, its first director, was a huge enthusiast and promoter. He was also known for creating hybrids and giving away the efforts he felt did not show promise. Once when he and his wife Gertrude, the Arboretum's assistant director, visited Maralyn and George at their Wallingford home, he commented on an especially stunning rhododendron — which turned out to be one he had discarded years before. The Wisters later surprised the Gillespies by naming and registering it through the American Rhododendron Society as Rhododendron ‘Maralyn Gillespie’ in her honor.

Gillespie held the College in similar regard and affection. Once, when reflecting on the place that had been part of her life for so many years, she said: “I remember walking up the hill from the library after studying at night, and thinking to myself, ‘How lucky I am to be here.’”