Gail with Dino, the “Guide Dogs for the Blind” puppy she helped raise with her husband Dan. They welcomed the puppy back into their home after he was retired from the program. Dino passed away just one month before Gail, at 13 years old. (Photo: Dan Hiles)

Healdsburg resident Gail Adams passed away on Christmas Eve at the age of 83, after battling a disease called Lewy Body Dementia with “grace and resilience” for the past eight years. She was born and raised in Ellensburg, Wash., and got her Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Puget Sound. She later moved down to the Bay Area — where she earned her Master’s from the University of San Francisco, then served as an educator within San Francisco’s school district for 33 years.

“Gail loved having the summers off and many weeks she spent in Healdsburg, where she decided that she wanted to live in retirement,” writes her husband of more than three decades, Dan Hiles. “She started going to Healdsburg in her connection with the Dry Creek Vineyard where she was one of the founding members in the early 1970s. She loved her association there and that is where she and I had our wedding party in 1992.” Gail leaves behind two children, one stepchild and a step-grandchild, along with her second husband Dan. He leaves us with this poem:


I lost Dear Gail on Christmas Eve,
Holidays spent just to grieve.
Now the New Year has just begun,
Forever keeping Gail as my number one.
Though seasons change & time may pass,
Gail’s love remains at the top of her class.

— Her loving husband, Dan

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Simone Wilson was born and raised in Healdsburg, CA, where she was the editor of the Healdsburg High School Hound's Bark. She has since worked as a local journalist for publications in San Diego, Los Angeles, New York City and the Middle East. Simone is now a senior product manager and staff writer for the Healdsburg Tribune.

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