Oklahomans are known to be neighborly and generous. One of the newest of the Church's General Authorities says so — and he should know. He worked side-by-side with them five years ago after a bomb ripped off the front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing more than 160 people.

He lost a friend that day, one of his employees who had gone to the federal building on business. Today, Elder H. Aldridge Gillespie, now of the Second Quorum of the Seventy, speaks of the April 1995 tragedy not only with profound sadness, but also with a profound tenderness for the people of the state he called home for more than three decades.

"City officials put word out in the community [after the bombing] for all sorts of help," recalled Elder Gillespie, who was sustained April 1 in general conference. This help included a need for chaplains or victims' counselors. With his years of experience as a bishop, stake president and regional representative, Elder Gillespie was immediately sent to a local church where the families of victims were gathering for word — any word — of a loved one.

"I functioned in that capacity for several weeks," he related. "It gave me a chance to see how generous the people of Oklahoma and the people around the nation were. To be able to get close to those people and to be part of their families for a brief period of time was a choice experience. All I did was teach them gospel principles hour after hour. They recognized the truth of those principles and it gave them hope."

Elder Gillespie has an innate compassion, polished from years of service and tendered from countless acts of service rendered to him and his boyhood family. He was only 8 1/2 months old in Riverside, Calif., in 1936 when his mother, Amelia Baird Gillespie, unexpectedly died. About three years later, his father, Lionel Aldridge Gillespie, met a young woman, Maries Giles — a woman who soon became "Mother" to that little boy.

By this time, the United States had entered World War II, so the Gillespie family moved from Southern California to Manti, Utah, to be near the Giles family who operated a resort ranch and dairy there. "My job during that time was running the milk," Elder Gillespie said. "After the milk was loaded into the trucks, we then delivered throughout Sanpete County. I was a little guy, so I got to run the milk up to the doorsteps and bring the empty bottles back.

"The Giles family had a good influence on me," he continued. He added that although his father was not active in the Church, he bore a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon and encouraged his son to participate in all Church meetings and activities. "The influence of the Manti community had a profound effect on me and I had some very good bishops."

Two bishops in particular he fondly remembers, Bishop Glen Anderson and Bishop Frank Garbe, "who went a little bit out of their way to make sure I had a little extra attention."

Then, for a short time, the Gillespies moved to Kaysville, Utah, where his father worked in defense plants. However, a heart attack at the age of 38 forced him to move his family back to Manti, where he died four years later, leaving a wife, son and two daughters. These were difficult years, and for a time the family had to accept Church welfare —something Elder Gillespie has never forgotten and which fostered in him a strong desire to give back to the Church spiritually and temporally for blessings he remembers receiving as a young man.

It was also during this time he had what he calls one of the "watershed events" in his life. He decided to serve a mission. "I had a terrible need to feel I was acceptable to my Heavenly Father, to show Him that in spite of my weaknesses, my desires were good."

Elder Gillespie speaks of his service in the Spanish American Mission, from 1955-58, with deep feelings.

Sister Gillespie said her husband has lived by the examples given him in his youth. Virginia Larsen was a young woman from Manti with whom he corresponded during his mission and who was studying to be a nurse when they were married soon after his return home. Sister Gillespie said, "He's very compassionate, but at the same time, he's not afraid to stand up for right. He isn't wishy-washy."

She should know. In their more than 40-year marriage, which has brought them five children, they've been together while he received university degrees and pursued a career. Then, it was off to Oklahoma, where he taught at the University of Oklahoma and later became the director of the Transportation Safety Institute with the U.S. Department of Transportation. They lived in Norman, Okla., until Elder Gillespie retired and was called as president of the Mexico Tampico Mission, where they are today.

While serving their Church and community, however, Elder and Sister Gillespie have always made time for family. "Our hobbies are projects," she related. "We bought a motor home, tore the inside out and rebuilt it. We built our house. We always found recreation doing things as a family."

Elder Gillespie speaks with love for the gospel, for his family, for the people of Oklahoma and Mexico, but especially for his wife. He said early in their marriage she was offered a full-ride grant for a medical degree. But their family was just starting, and she chose to stay home. "It would never be possible for me to be in this position without that kind of support and without that kind of a commitment from my sweetheart."

E-mail: julied@desnews.com