Gayle Wallace
February 23, 1950 ~ December 5, 2022
Gayle Ann Wallace, 72, of Mount Vernon, passed away on Monday, December 5, 2022, at St. Luke's Hospital in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Memorial services: 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 21, 2023, at the United Methodist Church of Mount Vernon. Arrangements are with Stewart Baxter Funeral & Memorial Services, Mount Vernon.
Gayle Ann was born on February 23, 1950, in Leon, Iowa, the youngest child of Chester Melvin and Mary Elizabeth (Callison) Wallace. The family lived in Corydon and Lorimor, Iowa before moving to Mount Vernon in 1957. Gayle graduated from Mount Vernon High School in 1968 and from Cornell College in 1972. She taught high school science in Calamus, Iowa for one year before returning to school at Kirkwood for computer programming. She worked at Life Investors/Aegon/Transamerica for 40 years, retiring in 2016. She was a lifelong member of the Mount Vernon United Methodist Church.
Growing up with two older brothers and a father who was a coach, Gayle was athletic despite not having organized girls' sports available. She was intelligent and a skilled computer programmer. She had many varied interests and liked to teach others about things she was passionate about. She often shared tips for better vegetable gardening or cooking, and enjoyed trying new recipes or better yet having someone else make the recipe and she would be the taste-tester. Gayle cared deeply about the natural world and enjoyed visiting prairies, state and national parks and preserves, and other wild places. She visited both the northernmost (Point Barrow, AK) and southernmost (Ka Lae, Island of Hawai'i) points in the United States, traveled to Mexico to view the monarch migration, and twice took her nieces on epic road trips when they were teenagers. She also enjoyed birding and participated in many area bird counts. She was the family historian and genealogist and enjoyed passing on her knowledge to the next generation. Affectionately known as 'Aunt Ganny' to her family, she was deeply loved and will be missed.
Gayle Ann was preceded in death by her parents. She is survived by her brothers Victor (Dee) Wallace of Jackson, Tennessee, and Jim (Jackie) Wallace of Mount Vernon. She is also survived by her nephews and nieces, Mike (Kristin) Wallace, Mark (Kishe) Wallace, Amy (Justin) Taylor, Joel (Lori) Wallace, and Jamie (Rik) Smith, and 10 great-nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Mount Vernon United Methodist Church, Iowa Public Television, or the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation. Another way to honor her life would be to enjoy things Gayle loved, such as going for a drive through a park or prairie, planting a garden, feeding the birds, cooking from scratch, or simply gazing up at the stars.
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We are deeply sorry for your loss ~ Stewart Baxter Funeral & Memorial Services – Mount Vernon
So sorry to hear of her passing. I worked with Gayle on projects for many years at Life Investors/Transamerica and thoroughly enjoyed her. She was dedicated to her craft and was very good at it. She always had a great sense of humor and was a joy to be around. I’m sure she will be dearly missed.
Joleen Zieser
Lots of unique memories of time spent with Gayle – Skunk cabbage, eagles, Halley’s Comet, Werdos, Irish Terriers, cardboard boat races, JimBo cookies – she will be fondly remembered.
The Indian Creek Nature Center valued Gayle as a supporter for many years. Recently she was a generous monthly sustainer who had no interest in receiving anything in return for her donations.
In 2008, shortly after the major Cedar Rapids flood, she sent a donation along with a handwritten note, which clearly illustrates both her love for the land and her concern for people. This is the end of her message: “People are going to need the serenity of nature in the months to come & hopefully the city will look and see that buffered land can withstand the onslaught of nature better than highly developed land on a flood plain.”
We send our deepest condolences to Gayle’s family and friends. We are grateful to have partnered with her to make our world a better place.
I was lucky enough to work with Gayle for years and to also bird with her. She taught me a lot on the job and about birds. Gayle was a person who enjoyed life and sharing it with others. She will be missed more than she ever would have thought.