Gail Catharine Grebe, nee Martin December 30, 1942 – July 22, 2025. Gail died from cardiac arrest on Tuesday morning. My brother Kevin and I had suddenly lost our mother whom we had had the good fortune to know for over half a century. Ralph, her husband, lost his wife of sixty years. Liz, Kevin’s wife, lost a beloved mother-in-law. She will also be missed and remembered by her two grandchildren, Abigail and Jack, as well as by many other surviving friends and relatives, almost too numerous to mention.

Gail was born one snowy night in late December eighty-two more years ago. The second child of Bill and Lillian Martin, she was born in Hamilton Ontario – lower Hamilton to be specific, because her parents could not drive up to the hospital she was expected at due to slippery escarpment roads. So the legend goes.

Along with her older brother Ron, her formative years were spent in Hamilton, Jarvis, and Beamsville. The biggest impression was made in Beamsville, where she met her lifelong school friends Donna, Carol, and Elaine. In 1963, Elaine introduced her to her future husband Ralph, whom she decided to marry two years later. After a wedding feast that will forever be remembered for the caterer’s slow service, Gail and Ralph were off on their honeymoon vacation to Virginia. It would be the first of many adventures all over North America encompassing all the Canadian provinces, one territory, and many American states north, south, and in the middle. Yes, together, they even reached Alaska, where they ventured beyond (or just near) the Arctic Circle.

Gail’s career was in banking. She served as a Customer Service Representative at the Royal Bank of Canada on Ontario Street in Beamsville from shortly after high school until her retirement. During her long duration of service, she thwarted at least one crime, that we knew of, when she recognized a local address that she knew could not exist. But, more importantly, she made a point of remembering names and getting to know the people she served.

Her career was temporarily interrupted by the birth of her and Ralph’s first son Jeff in 1971 and their second son Kevin in 1973. She stayed at home and raised her sons, returning to work when they entered school, but really did not officially stop raising us until this very week.

And now we are left with mementos and memories, knick-knacks and photographs, made more precious by her absence. Of these reminders, one of my favorite photos is of her and my father on a tall bench in a park at the end of Victoria Avenue, taken on the occasion of their sixth wedding anniversary. The bench is dramatically oversized, so they look like a couple of children, smiling and swinging their legs. My heart warms at the sight of it.

Cremation has taken place. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association or McNally House Hospice.

Visitation will be held at Tallman Funeral Home, 3277 King St., Vineland on Tuesday July 29, 10–11am, with the service to follow at 11am.

Memories and notes of condolence may be shared at Tallman Funeral Homes.