Sylvia Gail Williams Mathis

Hoover, Ala. - Funeral services will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 3, 2020, in the Collier-Butler Funeral Home Chapel for Gail Williams Mathis, who passed away peacefully in her sleep at her home late Sunday night, November 29. Interment will take place at Forrest Cemetery in a family plot next to her father and mother.

Born in Alabama City on April 9, 1938, Gail was the only daughter of Adolphus (Dolph) Dale Williams (1899-1979) of Union County, Tennessee, and Alexa Mae Bland (1909-1979) of Statesboro, Georgia. In addition to her parents, she was also preceded in death by her brothers, Jack Dale Williams (1932-2015) and Gordon Reigh Williams (1936-1989), and half-siblings Dorothy Jo (1921-1949), Adelia Caroline (1923-1930), and Dolph, Jr. (1925-1986).

Gail grew up in a large rock house on Tabor Road less than two miles above Noccalula Falls, built by her father who worked for Gulf States (later Republic) Steel for more than 50 years. She attended Mitchell Elementary before graduating from Gadsden High School in May 1955. In addition to being on the girl’s basketball and tumbling teams while in high school, she was a member of the Glee Club and Chapel Choir, excelling at singing which became her lifelong passion.

In her first year at Alabama Polytechnic Institute (Auburn University) in 1956, she married Max Leo Rosenberg (1935-2012), a senior ROTC cadet from Columbus, Georgia. More than a dozen years as an Army officer’s wife ensued, with frequent moves to military posts in Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, Germany, and Michigan. In 1963, while in Louisiana, she earned a diploma in church music from The New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Wherever her husband was stationed, she directed church choirs both on and off base and performed as a Mezzo-soprano guest soloist in area churches.

After her husband Max was 100% disabled on his second tour of Vietnam in 1969, Gail enrolled in basic accounting and business courses at Gadsden State to prepare working outside the home. From 1974 through 1981, she held various positions as a bookkeeper for a number of Gadsden businesses, including Cooks Pest Control, DePaul Volkswagen, and John Thomas Ford. For the next half dozen years she owned and managed a convenience store and a used car lot in Southside and a pest control company in Gadsden. In January 1987, Gail relocated to Hoover, Alabama, where she was employed by a number of auto dealers, including Bart Starr Motor Company, Crown Motors, and Crest Cadillac. She retired from Susan Schein Automotive in September 2011 after nearly twelve years of service.

When she was not working, Gail devoted much of her time and energy raising two children on her own, instilling in each a love for sports and music. She enjoyed cross-stitch, crewel embroidery, flea marketing, collecting angels, Hummel figurines, and old gospel books, and playing the piano and singing. After retirement, she particularly delighted in being a member of “The Joyful Singers,” the Senior Adult Choir ministry of Hunter Street Baptist Church in Hoover. When she was able, she remained physically active through the City of Hoover’s New Horizons.

Her family loved hearing her sing and spending time with her, celebrating birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, and other special occasions. She will be remembered for her sense of humor, her inveterate notetaking, her strength and resilience, her practical know-how, and her love of favorite foods from Dale’s Southern Grill. Her life was a living example of her favorite Bible verse, Ephesians 4:32: “And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God has also forgiven you.”

Gail is survived by 2 children and their respective spouses, 9 grandchildren, 2 step-grandchildren, 2 nephews and 2 grand-nieces. Her first great-grandson is due shortly. She treasured her offspring and embraced every moment with them.

Her family wishes to thank Gail’s entire team from Kindred Hospice, for providing reliable and consistent care during her final months at home. And a special thanks to Roberta Eagle who has been Gail’s friend for more than five decades. In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting that donations be made in Gail’s honor to the National Pancreatic Cancer Foundation (http://www.npcf.us/), a non-profit, or to Midnight Run (https://midnightrun.org/), an outreach to the homeless, administered by one of her nephews.