Beverley Gail Cummer

Our dear sweet mother, Beverley Gail Cummer, lovingly known by many as “Daba,” passed away on December 18th just shy of her 88th birthday. Gail was born on January 20, 1938 in Alberta, Canada. She was the youngest of three. She was predeceased by her brother Jack Cummer, and is survived by her sister, Joanne Kay Chambers, of Toronto, and her five children, Jennifer Flanagan (Marty), Deirdre Cook (DJ), Elysia Doyle (JD), Gillian Everett (Jeff) and John A. Gelety.

At the age of 10, her family moved to the island of Jamaica where her father had taken a position with the West Indies Sugar Company. Gail graduated from Knox College and then returned to Canada to attend nurses training at General Hospital in Montreal where she met her husband of 25 years, Dr. Joseph Gelety, who was attending medical school at McGill University. Gail and Joe moved to Rochester, Minnesota where Joe completed his residency in Neurosurgery. They started their family and moved to their home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 1965 where they continued to raise their five children. This was also where Gail became an active member in her local Church, not just as a member but also as a leader and volunteer for the Youth Ministries. She participated in many Youth trips to the mountains of the Carolinas for canoe trips and ski trips with the Teen programs. Her love of the outdoors was contagious. In addition to being a Registered Nurse, Gail received her master’s degree in psychology from Florida Atlantic University. She donated her time and experience as an advocate for at-risk children and families through Kids in Distress. She was an enthusiast of the Fine Arts and was active in the Fort Lauderdale chapter of Beaux Arts for many years.

In 1991 Gail married Thomas Hansberger. They shared a love of the West, spending time in Montana and Colorado. They loved the out-of-doors and traveled around the world summiting many mountains, including Kilimanjaro, Mount McKinley, The Matterhorn, just to name a few and many of the Colorado 14ers. During this time, they established a part-time residence in Lyford Cay in the Bahamas and visited often.

Gail was a true conservationist and was a member of the Board of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. She was philanthropically involved in her community in Red Lodge, Montana where she divided her time between her home in Frisco, Colorado. She spent many years living in Frisco, where she owned a quaint and popular knitting store, What’s Needling U. There she enjoyed sharing her love of fiber arts, including felting, knitting and needle point. She so enjoyed teaching many of her friends and family the art of “casting on and off” to create wearable art. During her time living in Frisco, Gail was actively involved as a volunteer for the Red Cross that provided aid to the Summit County Rescue Team. In addition, Gail enjoyed her time volunteering on Slope Watch at Copper Mountain where she loved to ski with her kids and grandkids. She continued to serve the Frisco community by financially supporting the development of the Summit County Preschool, in addition to mentoring CASA in Summit County. Most of all, she loved her expanding family including, her 5 children, 16 grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren, and her lifelong friends.

Throughout Gail’s life her Faith in God remained ever present, which she instilled in each of her children. Mom always saw the beauty in nature and stopped to point out the smallest miracles of God’s creation. Many of our walk-abouts were made twice as long, as we took in every pinecone, bird call, flower bloom and new green leaf.

In her later years, she made a point of walking to the sandy beach to watch the sun rise and celebrated each new day that was offered to her! Mom taught us to appreciate everything about every day and we will miss her dearly.

A service to honor Beverley Gail will be held on January 10th at 11:00am at First Presbyterian Church, 401 S.E. 15th Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.