Gayle Ellen Dice

Born on August 19, 1951, Gayle was a true flower child of the 1960s — spirited, passionate, and unafraid to stand for what she believed in. Her quick wit and infectious sense of humor could light up any room, and those lucky enough to know her were never quite the same after.

Gayle graduated from Western Michigan University, and her adventurous spirit had taken her far before that — first as a foreign exchange student in Germany, and later as a student teacher in Berlin, experiences she carried with pride for the rest of her life. In her quiet, devoted way, she also learned American Sign Language to stay connected with her deaf sons — just one of the many ways she showed up for the people she loved without hesitation.

She spent her life lost in books, particularly fantasy novels and tales of dragons, and could just as easily be found with an Eric Clapton or Beatles record on in the background, transported to another world entirely.

Gayle is survived by her devoted husband, Tad Dice; her daughter, Sara Hane, with whom she had recently and joyfully reconnected after many years apart; her sons, Skylar Dice (and his wife, Jennifer) and Thyme Dice; her sister, Rebecca Tinker; and her grandchildren — Skylar’s children, Alijah, Kenedie, Addison, and Alexandria Dice, and Thyme’s daughters, Gabrielle and Sienna Dice — six young lives who carried her heart forward into the world. She was preceded in death by her parents, Robert and Ruth Tinker; her brother, Sean Tinker; and her beloved youngest son, Koryn Dice, who left this world far too soon in 1989.

She is not gone — she is simply in the next great story, turning the page.

“Let it grow, let it grow, let it blossom, let it flow. In the sun, the rain, the snow — love is lovely, let it grow.”— Eric Clapton