Gayle Reese

Gayle Manwell Reese of Orem, Utah passed away peacefully at home on August 10, 2016 at the age of 80. She was born on February 3, 1936 in Provo, Utah to Bertram and LaVerl Snyder Manwell.  She married Blair T. Reese on October 10, 1958 in Elko, Nevada after knowing each other for three weeks and remained married for 54 years, until Blair passed away in 2012.

Blessed with an amazing sense of humor and an infectious laugh, she was great at finding the funny in any situation and was a huge Monty Python fan.  Though her appetite steadily decreased during her last couple of weeks before she “shuffled off her mortal coil”, her family made sure she always had “three tins of beans” ready for meals.  Full of life and spunk to the very end, she was “happy” and thought she would “go for a walk”…but when it did come time for her to “go in the cart” she did so with grace, courage and peace.

A very active person, she enjoyed yard work, gardening, walking, golfing, bowling and spent countless midnight hours patrolling the neighborhood for water roaches with a flashlight and a big can of Raid.

Her greatest joys came from her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.  She loved spending time with them and making up silly songs and rhymes and she loved to hear stories about the cute things they did.

Gayle is survived by her children Terry (J.D.) Seely of Ferron, Brooks (Gwen) Reese of Germany, Cole (Valerie) Reese of Orem and Laurel Ann (Nella) (James) Struthers of Spanish Fork, 11 grandchildren, five great grandchildren and her sisters, Judy Manwell and Lori Miner.  She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband and her son-in-law, John Arndt.

The family is very grateful for the love and compassion of Sara Kump and Wendy Selmos who assisted Mom in her home after she became blind in 2012 and became her dear friends in the process and for the love and support of so many neighbors that loved and helped Mom.  She lived in the same house in Orem for 48 years where she raised her family and always commented on what a wonderful neighborhood she lived in.  She will be greatly missed by her family and all who knew and loved her.

Graveside services will be held Saturday, 13 August 2016 at 10:00 a.m. at the Orem City Cemetery, 1520 North 800 East, Orem, Utah 84097.