Gayle M. Ball
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Gayle M. Ball, 56, of Depot Street, died Wednesday (11-10-2021) at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, after a pedestrian/vehicle accident outside her workplace, the Springfield City Library.
Gayle was born in Greenfield Nov. 28, 1964, the daughter of the late Ernest W. and Althea J. (Churchill) Ball. She was educated in Bernardston schools and at Pioneer Valley Regional School in Northfield, where she graduated as her class valedictorian and a National Honor Society member in 1983. She spent one year at Middlebury College in Vermont before transferring to Ohio Wesleyan University, where she graduated in 1987 with a degree in geography and as a Phi Beta Kappa member. Later, in 1989, she earned her Master's Degree in Library Science at the University at Albany.
She began her professional career at the Rhode Island Historical Society in Providence before moving to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where she worked at the university library for six years. In 1997, she returned to Western Massachusetts to work at the Springfield City Library, where she became Supervisor of Technical Services and Collections. In that position, she was an invaluable resource not only within the city library system, but also to many of her colleagues throughout the Western and Central Mass. regions.
Gayle married George E. Miller III on May 2, 2020 at Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory in South Deerfield. The two had gone to Pioneer together in junior high school and did not reconnect for over 30 years, until their first date, at Magic Wings, in September of 2013. Their wedding was a very limited affair due to COVID-19 restrictions -- despite a surprise drive-by parade of guests that followed the ceremony -- but they planned a vow renewal and large reception with family and friends that would have taken place at Magic Wings on Nov. 13.
Gayle loved reading, sports, travel and exploration, with her several trips to Hawaii, the United Kingdom, and Ireland among the real highlights. She and George were engaged on the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland in April of 2019 and planned a honeymoon in Scotland for late summer of 2022. She was especially proud of her tenacious and detailed genealogical research of her family that dated back several centuries.
Her towering intelligence, curiosity to learn, willingness to help others, and determination to finish the task at hand informed everything she did, in her professional and personal lives. She was never without a smile or a kind thought or word.
She leaves her husband, George Miller of Bernardston; her brother Jody Ball and his partner Denise Vassar of Turners Falls; her niece Shelly Collins, husband Shawn Collins and grand-niece Nora Mae Collins, all of Salisbury, N.C.; her nephew Tobe Ball of Kannapolis, N.C.; her sister-in-law Kathleen Fiore and husband Donald Fiore of Northfield; and many aunts, uncles, and cousins. Gayle's much-loved cats, Ginger and Roscoe, will also miss her dearly.
Calling hours are scheduled for Thursday (11-18-2021) from 6 to 8 p.m. at Kidder Funeral Home, 1 Parker Avenue, Northfield. A gravesite service will take place Friday (11-19-2021) at 11 a.m. at Bernardston Center Cemetery, followed by a lunchtime reception at Terrazza Restaurant, 244 Country Club Road, Greenfield.
In addition, a celebration of Gayle's life will be held at a later date.
To send condolences please visit www.kidderfuneralhome.com.