Gaila May Henry

Henry, Gaila May, 86, former teacher and “household executive”, passed away Wednesday, September 24, 2008. Memorial service will be held 1:30 P.M., Saturday, September 27 at Pleasant Valley United Methodist Church. Born in 1922, to Harry and Grace Selvy from Burns Ks, Gaila was one of 8 children. What an amazing and wonderful life she had. Incredibly caring and considerate of others she could also be strong willed when a situation required it. This characteristic of her nature certainly helped her to become a wonderful teacher in her younger days. High school in Burns was followed by Junior College at El Dorado, then came World War II. Gaila worked at Boeing helping the war effort in the years 1942 thru 1944. She was also a nurses aid and did a lot of volunteer work in that capacity. In this time frame, she met and married (in June 1943) a dashing young B17 pilot in the U.S. Air Force, William ( Bill ) Henry. It was to be a 65 year journey, and what an absolutely wonderful journey it has been. As in all marriages there were trials and tribulations along the way. For Gaila they started early, when she found out that her new husband had been shot down over Germany and was a prisoner of war. Bill was released after one year in captivity and returned home to his very relieved wife. Gaila in many ways was ahead of her time, she was never afraid to take on issues or do things that in those days women were not expected to do, an example being that she went back to school, graduating from WSU in 1968 and then went on to get her Masters in Education from WSU in 1972. They have a family that now includes great grandchildren, started with their own; David, married to Sue, Gaila, married to Jim, Mark married to Terri and Marlys married to Bryan. Gaila was never one to be idle, and while raising her own family, she was involved actively in organizations such as NOW, League of Women Voters, and several sororities, but, in her own words, her number one job was “Household Executive”. No one could perform that role better than Gaila. Even with the size of her extended family she never missed a birthday or other important occaison. She was a truly amazing woman who touched and contributed to so many lives, and will be sorely missed by all that knew her. We would like to pass on a special thanks to all the very caring and considerate staff at Wesley Hospital for their care, understanding, and support. God bless and rest in peace Gaila Henry. In lieu of flowers memorials have been established with the Alzheimers Association, 347 South Laura, Wichita, KS 67211 and the Wichita State University Foundation, 1845 Fairmont, Wichita, KS 67260-0002.