AVON, Ind. (WISH) — Veterans are hoping one of their own gets the burial he deserves after the Hendricks County Coroner’s Office found his estranged daughter through social media.

Marine Sgt. John Gillespie Jr. served in the Vietnam War from 1963 to 1967 as a part of the Aircraft Wing.

“That’s about all I can tell you about John,” said Gillespie’s friend Frank Parks. “It’s probably not a lot, but it’s more than most folks do.”

After retiring from Allison Transmission in Indianapolis, Gillespie was a bit of a recluse and had poor health. His friends and neighbors said he spent a lot of time holed up indoors.

“If he liked you, then he’d talk to you,” Parks said. “If he didn’t — and there was a lot of people he didn’t like — he wouldn’t speak to them.”

Every once in a while, Gillespie would open up to a fellow Marine … or his neighbors as they family time painting their shed.

“I think he was touched by the fact that all four kids were out painting that. He eventually got on his rider and made the trek to the shed and everyone was pretty wigged out because John had never said a word,” said Gillespie’s neighbor Rudy Guerrero. “We’d said ‘Hi’ to him. He’d ignored us, and then he went on to talk with me for an hour and a half that day.”

After that, Gillespie developed a healthy friendship with the family members. He helped them out with his riding mower and chatted with them from time to time.

When he died of natural causes in his home, the coroner’s office had no family contacts for Gillespie. So, the coroner’s office posted a message on social media in hopes of finding his family:

“The Hendricks County Coroner’s Office is looking for family of: Mr. John Gillespie Jr.
“08/11/44
“Mr. Gillespie last resided in Avon, IN
“If you have any information or are family please contact our office at 317-605-3270. Please share.

Tips poured in, and the coroner’s office finally found his daughter.

“She had pulled up to the house and got to meet her and she was so thankful for the time that we were able to spend in his life,” Guerrero said. “They’d been estranged for decades.”

Gillespie’s friend Parks and the American Legion said they to make sure the veteran got a proper Marine burial. Parks said he and the Veterans of Foreign Wars will help Gillespie’s daughter if she contacts them. The daughter told the Guerreros she wanted her father’s burial to be private, but invited them.

“We understand that the daughter has — it’s a private thing with her,” said American Legion Post 145 Commander Mike Welsh. “But, we would like to know — we would like to let the daughter know that we are here. And that she can contact us here at our post, and we will do anything that she requests to make sure that John gets an honorable service.”

The American Legion said they have reason to thank Gillespie. He had been very generous to them and had even bought new computers for the Legion at one point.