October 6, 1928 – August 8, 2015
Gaile
Russ died peacefully at her home in the Oakland hills, August 8, 2015.
She was born October 6, 1928 in the Midwest, but after her father
disappeared in the Great 1937 Flood of Louisville, Kentucky, her mother
Thanet Bronson moved the family back to her own childhood home in the
California Central Valley. Gaile attended Hughson High School, Modesto
Junior College, and the University of California, Berkeley, graduating
from Cal in 1952. Gaile worked as a staff writer at the Oakland Tribune
from 1953-76, winning the Tribune's Joseph R. Knowland Award and Dave
Hope Memorial Award given to reporters for excellence in writing. Among
her many memorable assignments were flying in a prop plane from town to
town in Northern California with Nancy Reagan as she campaigned for her
husband "Ronnie" when he was running for governor of California in 1966
and, while on the morning desk at the Tribune in 1974, piecing together
field reports and writing the original story of the Patty Hearst
kidnapping in Berkeley as the deadline for the Trib's afternoon edition
loomed.
Gaile lived in the Oakland-Berkeley area for the last 67 years, moving to Hiller Highlands in the late 1960s and rebuilding her home there after the Oakland Firestorm in 1991.
A lifelong animal lover, Gaile became an activist in support of animal rights and environmental causes. She supported numerous groups that included the Smithsonian National Zoo, the Lindsay Wildlife Experience, Environment California, Sierra Club, World Animal Protection, and SPCA.
Gaile was preceded in death by her husband of 52 years, Wilbur Russ, who died in 2011, and her sister Clark Smith who died in 2000.
She is survived by her sister Beth Van Antwerp of Los Angeles. As well, Gaile leaves behind her many nephews and nieces and their children who knew her as a wise, kind, generous, and inspirational presence in their lives.
A Celebration of her life will be held in October of this year. Anyone wishing to make a contribution in her name is requested to donate to one of her favorite rescue groups – The Berkeley-East Bay Humane Society at 2700 9th St, Berkeley, CA 94710.
Gaile lived in the Oakland-Berkeley area for the last 67 years, moving to Hiller Highlands in the late 1960s and rebuilding her home there after the Oakland Firestorm in 1991.
A lifelong animal lover, Gaile became an activist in support of animal rights and environmental causes. She supported numerous groups that included the Smithsonian National Zoo, the Lindsay Wildlife Experience, Environment California, Sierra Club, World Animal Protection, and SPCA.
Gaile was preceded in death by her husband of 52 years, Wilbur Russ, who died in 2011, and her sister Clark Smith who died in 2000.
She is survived by her sister Beth Van Antwerp of Los Angeles. As well, Gaile leaves behind her many nephews and nieces and their children who knew her as a wise, kind, generous, and inspirational presence in their lives.
A Celebration of her life will be held in October of this year. Anyone wishing to make a contribution in her name is requested to donate to one of her favorite rescue groups – The Berkeley-East Bay Humane Society at 2700 9th St, Berkeley, CA 94710.
Published in Contra Costa Times on Aug. 23, 2015
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