Gail Joanne (Larson) McNally of St. Louis Park, Minn., died Aug. 23, 2011, at the age of 65, while in hospice care at Lakeville, Minn.
Gail was born Feb. 15, 1946, in Amery, Wis., and spent her childhood in Deer Park, Wis. She graduated from New Richmond High School in 1964 and completed her bachelor's degree from Oshkosh, Wis., in English education in 1969. She married William (Bill) McNally of New Richmond, Wis., Oct. 11, 1969. Gail later obtained a Master's degree as a reading specialist from UW-River Falls. In addition to being a homemaker, she taught English at New Richmond Middle School. After her children were grown, Gail was a paraprofessional at Pond Center in Bloomington, Minn. She also was a dedicated volunteer teacher for the Minnesota Literacy Council, teaching English as a second language to adult immigrants for many years.
Gail enjoyed cooking and entertaining, reading, learning, studying French, traveling, volunteering, and socializing with her many friends.
She is survived by daughters, Catherine McNally, St. Louis Park, Elizabeth (Christopher) Jessich; grandchildren, William and Miles Jessich, Eagan, Minn.; brother, Dennis (Aida) Larson, Coon Rapids, Minn.; sisters, Rachel (William) O'Connell, New Richmond, and Carolyn (Ron) Anton, East Bethel, Minn.; and nieces, nephews, cousins, family and friends.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Clifford and Eleanor Larson, and husband, William McNally.
Visitation will be held from 4-7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 25, at the Cullen-Crea Funeral Home, 307 S. Arch Ave., New Richmond, and a Mass of Christian Burial will be held at the Immaculate Conception Church, 151 S. Washington Ave., New Richmond, at 11 a.m. Friday, Aug. 26. Memorials can be sent to the National Brain Tumor Society or the charity of your choice.
New Richmond News, August 25, 2011
A guestbook entry from Margaret (Frank) Lien, of Amery, WI on Monday, July 25, 2011 3:44 PM
Dear Gail,
Greetings from Dan, Margee and Lona. We are always thinking of you and hope you are getting the care and comfort you need. I think you have the most wonderful girls to keep all of us informed about you. From the messages they write, we can just feel the love and concern coming through to all of us who love you. I recently stopped at Edina to see you but you have moved to Lakeville. I hope to come and see you soon; Lakeville is a suburb I know little about. I am just getting used to figuring out where I am in St.Louis Park,especially now that Peter bought a house in a different area. That's what happens when the husband takes the reins and I ride shotgun. But we will come soon. I have been telling my family all the childhood adventures we had, playing Huck Finn, going to "the woods," trying to build a raft on that little pond, avoiding the school patrol and going home through the woods near Roger Gust's house, and on and on. Remember the rapture we felt when we read Wuthering Heights? Maybe that is why you named your daughter Cathy. I hope not! I remember our going to Mrs. Pape's house for an overnight (imagine that) to prep you for the regional spelling contest sponsored by the Minneapolis Trib. You were the winner of the St. Croix County contest. I think we were in 6th grade. I'm afraid we made way too much fun of Mrs. (Tilly) Pape. It would be later that we learned about teacher persecution when we became teachers ourselves. You were such a smart kid, in everything you did,be it math, science, English, art, music.The boys all thought you were beautiful. I saw Raymond Olson recently and he said, "Oh, those Larson girls are so good looking and they were so nice." And Sam Erickson asked me about you recently and said he always thought you were what today would be "really hot." But I digress--Do you remember when the New Richmond band director came to school and taught a class of baton twirling. After several weeks, you and I were still trying to turn that baton over our hands while the rest had moved on to actual twirling and throwing the baton into the air. Finally, Mr Jorgenson said quietly to us that perhaps we weren't meant to be baton twirlers. We thought that was hilarious---the first class we had flunked. Another thought--remember when we went to the church and rang the church bells at midnight on New Year's Eve. 8th grade, was it, and where did our parents think we were? We also autographed our names to the back of the large painting of Christ hanging at the altar, our version of "Kilroy was her," leaving our names for antiquity These escapades remind me of the wonderful freedom we had to roam and think up new adventures. One more--when my boys were little, they would ask me to tell stories about the "olden days, my childhood. They liked me to tell them this tale--you and I had read some mythology books at the school library (I'm sure we read every book there) and decided to act out some stories. We played in a field across the tracks near our house where the county trucks and gravel were stored. We attached large dried weeds to our backs somehow so we could be Mercury and fly around and then we would descend into the Underworld, a large depression in the field, and pretend that that Pluto had captured us. I have to say I would embellish and expand the tale each time I related it to Andrew and Peter (now 35 and 32). This note to you has become a tome, but I thought it might be fun to think back,as far as 60 years now and to let your children share these memories I hope one of your daughters reads this to you, as I try to remember our past and the friendship we shared in our Deer Park childhood. God's blessing on you, and may you be at peace with your family and friends beside you. See you soon. Love, Margee
margaret lien
Eulogies from Gail's relatives
From daughters Catherine McNally of St. Louis Park, MN and Elizabeth Jessich of Eagan, MN
Gail was a wonderful mother to my sister and I. She took her role as a homemaker and mother seriously; for example, when my sister and I were young, she would always cook our family meals from scratch. She would cook gourmet French meals, or would go to the health food store for fresh ingredients. I remember being woken up in the night around Christmastime by her sewing machine as she meticulously made doll clothes for me as presents. She was also adventurous; my dad liked to canoe, so she would go along with him on canoe trips down the St. Croix and Apple rivers when we were young and take us girls. Often times, she would sit with my sister while encouraging me to help with paddling in the front.
When my sister and I were young, she always had a welcoming house and got to know our friends. What my sister and I remember most are the wonderful birthday parties she would throw for us. She would make up rhyming clues for us kids and have a treasure for us to discover at the end. She thought of creative games for the parties, and our friends always loved coming over. I remember one Halloween party in particular where she helped make a scary haunted house in the garage and we used an old scythe in the garage as a horrific prop.
After my father passed away, my mother took to heart her role as a single mom. She always had a homemade meal on the table, and was always ready to lend an ear to her daughters’ problems. As adults, my sister and I were great friends with our mother. She was very supportive when my sister moved to Iceland, got married and had a child. She visited three times for weeks and helped enormously with babysitting and child rearing. She took a very active role for years as a grandmother to my sister’s children. As for me, she practically got me through college with all her support and advice. On a less serious note, both my sister and I had fun shopping with our moms when we were older. She would ask us for advice about which clothes she should buy and “model” outfits for us, and having this “girl” time together was great fun for the three of us.
My sister and I loved our mother’s intelligence, insights, and sense of fun. She was always challenging us to be better people, to be kind, and to give to others. We both feel blessed to have spent so many years in her presence and to have had the gift of her company, as a mother, supporter, and as a friend.
From sister Rachel O'Connell of New Richmond, WI
We were the “Larson girls”, always told how much we looked alike and each considered that a compliment. Gail was our older sister who we were somewhat in awe of when we were kids. When she was in High School, she was everything we weren’t at the time: popular, adventurous, accomplished, and strikingly pretty with her straight blond pageboy – the latest style.
Our parents both died when we were young and Gail took on the role of caregiver for all of us, handling the details and making sure things got done. She was the most wonderful mother and that role extended to us too because with our mother’s long illness with Parkinson’s, we lost that guidance in our 20’s. When Gail became ill, we were taking care of her and she suddenly said “The caregiver gets taken care of”. It was now our turn to take on that role.
We each had our favorite things we did with Gail. Gail and I had young children at the same time and we were a support to each other as we learned to be parents. We spent hours on the phone, discussing everything from toilet training to politics. She loved to learn and was an avid reader who could talk intelligently about many subjects. She was the first person I called when I had a problem and remembering her soft voice answering, “Hi Rachel, how are you?” brings tears to my eyes. We shared a love of the outdoors that we acquired as children living in the small town of Deer Park where there wasn’t much to do so we created our own adventures exploring the woods and ponds. As adults we went camping on Isle Royale, stayed at our cabin, and went cross country skiing at Willow River Park. We shared the same “Larson humor” and could always find something to laugh about. She never lost that sense of humor even when she was ill.
She was the one who took care of us, did things first because she was older, and now she has made this final journey leaving a huge void in our lives. We were the three Larson sister’s and it’s hard to imagine not having her guidance.
From sister Carolyn Anton of East Bethel, MN:
During the late ‘80’s, with Gail suddenly becoming a widow with two young daughters and myself newly divorced, we bonded more as a family, celebrating holidays and taking trips to the North Shore and Door County with her girls. We confided in and comforted each other. She was my inspiration and best friend as we struggled through a mutually difficult time in our lives. Later, we got into an antiquing craze, poring through shops in Red Wing and Hopkins, with Gail searching for Limoges china and me looking for Bavarian Rose dishes to add to our collections.
Of course, we almost always made our yearly State Fair visit: Eating corn dogs, visiting the Fine Arts building and going to the Swine barn to gawk at the 1,000-plus pound boar were annual favorites.
From brother Dennis Larson of Coon Rapids, MN:
As Gail's older brother by nearly two years, I took on the job of watching over my little sister of 2 years when I was 4 years old. She was a bit on the naughty side I thought for her age and reported this to our Mother. In school she seemed to be a bit too smart for my comfort. By 6th grade she turned into a champion speller in Saint Croix County and made it to the finals in Minneapolis. The spelling ability carried over into her college years and beyond.
By the time her high school years began, she attracted lots of attention from the boys and girls for her beauty and the teachers for her intelligence, some more disgusting traits. Her choice of boyfriends did not meet my approval and I related that to her. By her college years the boys she brought home improved and she asked me what I thought. Of course she had a thing or two to say about me. A few weeks ago she thought I was getting too heavy, was missing a button on my shirt and was I going to get it fixed among other issues. There are more brother and sister issues to discuss but I guess we will have to wait up a bit before discussion can begin once again.
