Averill Virginia Fox Gay

Averill Virginia Fox Gay, 90, wife of the Rev. Richard R. Gay, died quietly Jan. 24, 2011, at Providence Palliative Care in Anchorage. A native of Cornwall, PA, she was a graduate of Ursinus College in Collegeville, PA. There she met and married Richard on Christmas day, 1943. She held various teaching positions in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Then the family relocated to Alaska, where her husband served as minister, professor and administrator at Alaska Methodist University. Wherever they lived, Averill played organ, directed choirs and taught piano. In Anchorage, she was organist and choir director at Turnagain Methodist Church, then co-organist at First Presbyterian Church for 17 years. Her beautiful smile and gracious personality made her many friends, and her husband of 67 years was her greatest fan. Her family wrote: “These sentiments are most apt: Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband trusts her. She is not afraid of the snow for her household, for she looks well to the ways of her household. Her children rise up and call her blessed! And her name is Averill.” In addition to her husband, she is survived by daughters Judith, Patricia, Sherry, Jerilee and their husbands; and her son, Richard III, as well as are 15 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents and a brother.