Gail Memory Cobb

Gail Memory Cobb was a beloved wife, mother, and grandmother during her 84 years of life. She passed away on September 16, 2025, in her home in Jacksonville, Fla., surrounded by family after many years suffering with Parkinson’s disease.

She will be remembered for her strength, grace, and intelligence. Though she battled with this disease for more than two decades, Gail never complained. During the last years of her life, she still routinely travelled to the family’s second home in Georgia and from there to Clemson to watch Clemson play football. She was determined to live life to the fullest in the wake of this terrible illness. Even when she was no longer able to stand upright on her own, Gail was always prepared during each Clemson game with a full tailgate spread.

Gail lived a full life. She was married once before, a union that produced her first son, before she married her second husband, William McGee Cobb. The two had a happy, loving marriage full of adventures that lasted 45 years. Though she only had two biological children, she fully embraced her husband’s children and grandchildren as her own. A proud teacher by trade, Gail valued art and education. Many years she would celebrate her birthday on the 3rd of July by writing a new poem, which was almost always accompanied by a watercolor painting. She always claimed that the day after she was born the nation celebrated!

However, her family and friends won’t remember Gail by a list of places and milestones. They will remember her for the small, special moments — how Gail would quietly add the funniest joke to a conversation or how she always looked pristine and poised whether she was going to a wedding or a BBQ. They will remember her for her vast intellect and how she always had something insightful and studied to say even when she was just peeling carrots at the kitchen sink.

The people she loved, she loved them deeply and fiercely. She adored her siblings and stayed close to them throughout her life. In her older age, few things brought her more joy than showing off videos and pictures of her youngest grandchildren. She was a remarkable woman, someone whose life and essence could never be captured in a handful of paragraphs.

Gail is survived by her husband William McGee Cobb; her children Patrick William Cobb and wife Carolyn Taylor Cobb, John Matthew Ritchie and wife Corey Pfrommer Ritchie, William McGee Cobb Jr. and his wife Pennie Sharpe Cobb, and Kim Denise Cobb; and numerous grandchildren. She is also survived by her siblings Carole Memory Edwards, who was married to the late Spencer Chapman Edwards; Susan Memory Ross and her husband Randy C. Ross; and Samuel Thomas Memory (Tommy) and his wife Barbara Closuit Memory.

A service in Gail’s honor will take place on October 12 at 3:00 p.m. ET at San Jose Episcopal Church at 7423 San Jose Blvd, Jacksonville, FL, 32217. After the memorial service, a reception will be held across the street at San Jose Country Club.

In lieu of flowers donations can be made to the Parkinson’s foundation.