Virginia "Gayl" Knox

CORVALLIS - Virginia "Gayl" Knox, 83, passed away on Sunday, December 22, 2013, at her home in Corvallis MT. She was born on December 3, 1930, in Baltimore, MD, to Gaylord Rudolf and Virginia Adams Auer.

She grew up in Towson, MD, just outside Baltimore, with her parents and a series of canine companions. Her father owned Bacharach Rasin Sporting Goods and was well known as a major promoter and equipment supplier of the game of Lacrosse. She often traveled with her father up to Canada, where she developed an appreciation of Native-American and Scottish cultures. She also spent time on Maryland's Lower Eastern Shore, where she learned to love sailing and soft-shelled crab.

Gayl graduated from Towson High School in 1948. She earned an Associate Degree in 1950 at Stevens College in Columbia, MO. At Stevens, she met her future husband William Robert Knox (Bill). They were married on August 26, 1950.

Bill's career as a Presbyterian minister took them to assignments in Charlottesville, VA, Fayetteville, AR, Philadelphia, PA, Syracuse and Seneca Falls, NY, Boone, NC, Watkins Glen, NY and Lansing, NC. Gayl was actively involved in the Presbyterian Church as well, in the Witherspoon Society, Peacemakers, and helped start the Voices of Sophia. At the completion of Bill's last church assignment in 1990, they returned to Boone, NC, where they continued to be involved in social and political issues that had been central to their beliefs throughout their careers. In 2001, they moved to Corvallis, MT, to be near family.

Gayl was a great believer in education. In 1984, at age 54, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Earth Studies at Appalachian State University, but this was just a milestone in a lifelong journey to learn more about those with whom she shared the planet.

Gayl was a mother of invention. She took pride in her constructions and sometimes the solution would come together in a way you could not have predicted and be just right for her purposes.

She had a special love of music. She loved the way music could cross barriers of culture and language and raise people up to a place of joy and happiness. She felt that from there, good things could be accomplished.

She had many passions. Photography, drawing, painting, reading, sewing, knitting, traveling and skiing were all activities she pursued with gusto. But her greatest passions were those of love and compassion for others.

Together, Bill and Gayl worked on issues of peace, social and environmental justice. At home, Gayl was active in PFLAG, women's rights, and promoting the Democratic party. While in Seneca Falls, she was a co-founder of the Seneca ARC (Association for the Help of Retarded Children).

Fearless in their work, Bill and Gayl traveled to many "rough spots" to provide help. But while Bill would work on building networks, Gayl took the direct path. She built toilets in Nicaragua, met with the President of Iceland, helped erect a school building in rural Mexico, and to rebuild homes in New Orleans after Katrina.

Gayl's love of travel was life long. In addition to Nicaragua and Mexico, she traveled all around the US, and to Europe, Iceland, Cuba, Costa Rica and El Salvador. At age 82, she took a mule trek into the Bob Marshal wilderness. Life was an adventure, and she wanted to explore it all! Gayl drove all the roads on the map, and some that were not.

Gayl is survived by sons Jeff (Maureen Shortell) and Bob, daughters Becky (Ian) Graham and Martha Knox (Richard Bailly); and grandson Ray Bailly.

The family asks that in lieu of flowers, any interested persons make a donation to "Heifer International" (www.heifer.org). Their work to fight poverty and hunger was important to Gayl.