Gail R Katz

A graveside service for Gail will be held Friday, March 14, 2025 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM at Judean Memorial Gardens / Cemetery, 16225 Batchellors Forest Road, Olney, Maryland 20832.

In loving memory of Gail Weinshel Katz:

Gail was born on June 24, 1937 and passed away peacefully on March 13th, 2025. She was 87 years old at the time of her death and happened to pass on Purim, the same day that her father, Adolph Weinshel, passed at the age of 90 in 1989.

Gail was born and raised in Madison, Wisconsin. She loved Madison so very much. Her parents owned the very well-known (at the time) and popular Weinshel’s department store in downtown Madison and her parents were well regarded in town. Gail's father was a kind and generous man and community leader. He was known to have “house accounts” for so many residents in town and also known to write off these “house accounts” as he had the heart of a giver. He was also known to let those who were less fortunate to stay for free in the apartments above the department store. Gail loved her childhood and life in Madison. She went to the University of Wisconsin in Madison and met Paul when she was a sophomore in college and he was a student there as well. They were married in 1959 and moved to the Washington, DC, area in 1961 when Paul was offered a prestigious position in the Federal Government.

Gail worked for the Department of Labor in Washington, DC, for a short period of time after marriage but then resigned when she and Paul started a family. She never went back to full-time work outside of the home and instead opted to be a homemaker. As her children grew up, she held several different part time jobs working for friends in their businesses managing inventory, books and similar. She also wrote a series of cookbooks for a local publisher. Additionally, she worked as a meat taster for the USDA.

Paul promised Gail that they would only be in the DC area for a short time and promised that they would move back to Madison. They never made it back – instead, they remained in the Washington, DC, area as Paul continued to climb up the ladder in the Federal Government. Gail always missed Madison and missed her family in Madison. Of course, there were visits back "home" but it was not the same. Gail always carried Madison in her heart.

Gail loved spending days on the beach. She and Paul purchased a beach condo in Ocean City, MD, in 1974 and spent summers there. Gail and the children would pack up for the summer and stay all summer long while Paul would work an abbreviated work week in Washington, DC, and then spend long weekends at the beach. The family would return to Laurel just in time for the kids to go back to school after Labor Day. The beach was Gail’s happy place. Towards the end of her life, before she moved to her final home in an assisted living community, she lived at the beach condo with her two cats and loved every second of it.

Gail loved to cook and loved to entertain. She was always happy in her kitchen and at the stove. Her love language was food. If she was feeding people, she was happy.

Gail loved her cats. She always had cats and she loved to spend time with them.

Gail really loved QVC! She loved it so much that we sometimes had to tell her that the QVC channel was broken so she would stop buying things. She would talk about the QVC hosts as if they were her friends. She watched the QVC channel so much that she knew all the hosts by name and knew the names of their family members!

Gail also loved loved going to the casino. She loved playing slot machines.

Gail loved to drink a Kahlua and cream while making dinner.

Gail loved travel. She and Paul went on many cruises and exotic vacations. One of her favorite vacations was the year they went to Australia and New Zealand. They were away for almost a month, and they had a grand time.

Gail’s memory is cherished, and she will be especially missed by those who knew her as a mother and grandmother. However, she was seemingly the neighborhood mother and the mother to her kids’ friends and the “surrogate” mom to so many!

She was the mom who always stayed up until both of her children were home safely in bed when they were teenagers. She could not sleep until she knew everyone was safe and sound. She was the mom who could be found at 2 am baking cookies for her kids and all of their friends. She always had enough dinner cooked just in case extra people dropped in for dinner. She was known to be the mom who could “put something together” for dinner with whatever was in the fridge. She was the mom who could always be found at school volunteering when her kids were little. She was the mom who would take her kids to the neighborhood pool but would never get into the pool because she hated to get her hair wet! She was the mom who hated spiders and hated if her kids even showed her pictures of spiders in the encyclopedia. She was the mom who loved to watch soap operas while waiting for her kids to get home from school. She was the mom who learned her greatest capacity to love after she became a grandmother.

She was the grandma who never ever missed a birthday or graduation or any milestone. She was the grandma who always there - at sports games, after-school concerts, birthday celebrations, award ceremonies and the list goes on. She reminded her grandchildren how much she loved them all day every day - with her words and in her actions. She always had Zev's favorite dessert handy (vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup) and always made Zoe her favorite dish - peach noodle kugel. (She even shipped kugel to New York a few times upon Zoe's request.) She loved live music and loved introducing her grandchildren to it. She never missed an opportunity to take her grandchildren to the symphony at the Kennedy Center. She was there when her grandchildren saw their first Broadway theater production – The Lion King!

Gail will be remembered as someone who opened up her home to anyone and everyone; a fantastic cook and exquisite baker; someone who loved to entertain; an animal-lover (cat lover specifically); as someone who was always dressed to the nines with her collection of pearls and brooches; as someone who always had a hot pink manicure and pink lipstick (she would always say, "you never know if the president might knock on your door – of course this was during her reflection of the Kennedy era!). She will be remembered as someone who loved her family deeply.

Gail was a complex person and did not fully become all that she was capable of. She became a wife and mother during a very traditional time where there were social norms to adhere to. As time went on, it became evident that she was a product of her environment and was stifled in ways that we could not always fully understand. This created complicated relationships. It is our wish that she is free from all that held her back and is at peace knowing that her heart always spoke to us what her words didn’t.

A final prayer in her memory:

Dear G-d

Help me to grow old gracefully

And without bitterness

Teach me to view calmly the changes in the fragile

Mechanism I have used so long

Deliver me from envy of young people

And their happiness

Make me willing to accept

Changes and new beliefs

Enable me to face without protest

Life’s inevitable afternoon

As you grant me a radiant sunset

And a night of peace.

If you are inclined to honor Gail’s memory, we ask that – in leu of sending flowers to the family – you consider making a donation to any of the following organizations.

If you choose to donate, please indicate in your memo that you are donating in memory of Gail Katz.

JOHN B. PARSONS HARRISON SENIOR LIVING

By Check: Please mail a check payable to:

John B. Parsons Community

300 Lemmon Hill Lane

Salisbury, MD 21801

John B. Parsons was Gail’s final home. She moved here in June of 2023 and spent her last two years being taken care of by an amazing care team, including a resident dog, Henry. Gail loved Henry very much! The team here treated Gail with so much love, dignity, and respect. We are extraordinarily thankful to have found such a perfect home for Gail’s last years.

WORCESTER COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY

By Check: https://worcestercountyhumanesociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/memorial-donation-form.pdf

Online: https://worcestercountyhumanesociety.networkforgood.com/projects/75615-memorial-donations

The Worcester County Humane Society is a place that was near and dear to Gail’s heart. While still living independently at her beloved beach condo, Gail volunteered several days a week to cuddle kitties and prepare them for their forever homes.

COASTAL HOSPICE

By Check: https://coastalhospice.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Mail-Donation-Form.pdf

Online: https://www.coastalhospice.org/make-a-donation/

(please indicate “Patient Care Fund” instead of “Stansell House”)

As Gail’s health declined, a decision was made for her to enter hospice. We are eternally grateful for the kindness, expertise, and compassion of the incredible hospice professionals who took care of Gail in her final days and moments. They held our hands and walked us through the process each step of the way and ensured that Gail was always comfortable. Thanks to them, her transition was peaceful.