Another in our series…

The People of the Park

A Visit with the Surprising Gayle Gilmore

By Dale Dauten

You look at Gayle Gilmore, and you might think “traditional grandmother,” albeit an active and talented one — she’s the pianist at the park’s church services, she knits sweaters for dolls, and even converted her laundry room into a sewing room. But, hold on…

You wouldn’t guess that she’s had one of the most meaningful careers of anyone in the park, or any park. Much less would you guess that, as a young woman, she didn’t want a career, and planned to abandon the one she got as soon as possible. Here’s the story…

Born in Crosby, Minnesota, Gayle comes from educators – her mother was a school teacher, and her father was a teacher who became a principal. Sadly, her dad died while still in his 30s, and perhaps that helps explain why Gayle grew up with a simple life plan: “I was going to get married, have eight kids, and bake bread.” After Crosby High, she enrolled in a three-year program at a nursing school in Duluth. Along the way, she joined the college group at a large Presbyterian church, and that’s where she met Bob Gilmore. Eventually, Step One of her plan came to fruition: Bob and Gayle married at the time of her graduation. While waiting on Step Two (the having kids part), she took a job in nursing, getting assigned to Intensive Care. A couple of years later, their daughter was born and, as Gayle put it, “I figured I would never work again.” So, her life plan was working out, right on schedule. But hold on… then this: “After two months of staying home, I thought, ‘No, this isn’t it.’”

So she went back to work, part-time, but within months accepted this offer: “I was 22 and offered Head Nurse of Intensive Care. I worked full-time for the rest of my life.”

With new career ambitions, she returned to school, getting a BS in Nursing, followed by an MA in Nursing. Because her work in Intensive Care at the hospital meant she was involved in risk management issues, especially infection control, she added another Master’s, this one with a specialty in Industrial Safety. Along the way, as if working and getting advanced degrees weren’t enough, she and Bob had a second child.

It was during the AIDS epidemic in the 80s that Gayle’s unexpected career took a surprising twist: “I was helping plan a nursing conference. We’d lined up the agenda, but left one open speaking slot for a ‘Hot Topic.’ As the conference got closer, we knew the only really hot topic was AIDs but we didn’t have anyone to do a presentation. So I told the group, ‘If you’ll help me, I’ll learn it and then teach it.’ There were 150 to 200 people in attendance when I spoke, and I swear that everyone there had me come to their facility.” And thus was Gayle a public speaker. She added, “I got asked back on other topics, hundreds and hundreds of presentations.”

We asked what made her such a popular speaker. She thought a moment and said, “It’s not that I’m funny, but that things are funny. I remember having one person say to me, ‘I expected a talk on infection control to be awful.’ So maybe I surprised them by not being awful.” She added, “I’d look for ways to make it lively. I once spoke to a group of executives at 3M’s headquarters, and I got them to sing a little ditty about handwashing – I even had them singing it in rounds.”

Gayle’s speeches eventually turned into week-long classes that took her around the world, including Lithuania, Kuala Lumpur, Saudi Arabia, India, and South Africa.

Through all that speaking and travel, Gayle continued her work at the hospital up until her retirement: “I retired on 9/9/09 – I wanted to pick a date I could remember.”

As for coming to The Resort, Gayle explained how that transpired: “Bob was going to Thailand for a month — he was teaching English as a second language to a mission school. We had a fifth wheel, and he was going to drop me off somewhere I could stay for a month.” That turned out to be The Resort. How did it go? “Bob says that when he came back, I’d already gotten involved in 47 things and knew 500 people.” They became regular visitors in the fifth-wheel, but soon decided to buy a park model. The couple still splits time, and a pair of photos of their home in Duluth demonstrates the advantage of having two places.

While at the park, Gayle says she “quilts and knits and plays music.” She’s the pianist for the Sunday worship service, and she also plays on Saturdays when volunteers are doing the setup for that service. Husband Bob is the head of the committee for those services, and he told us that her playing makes the setup into a more lighthearted event. As for Gayle, she joked about it, saying, “If I play, I don’t have to set up chairs.” Then she added, “Maybe that’s a theme – as a kid, I didn’t have to do dishes if I practiced.”

Finally, speaking of church, when we asked Gayle our favorite question, the one about the best advice she’s ever gotten, she quoted Galatians 6:9 :

And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”

That seems just right for a person who didn’t want a career but who worked long years traveling the world to help make hospitals better and safer.

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