Margaret Evans Gayle was born on November 10th 1935 in Canton Ohio, to Kitty Stewart Evans and Dewey Alfonso Evans. At the age of four years old her family moved back to NC, not far from their ancestral mountain home. She grew up in Morganton in the company of her beloved brother Jack, cousins and books. At a very early age Margaret began to read, in fact, she was reading before starting school at the age of five.
She became a serious student and moved ahead a year in elementary school. She flourished in academics and athletics and by sixteen had started college at Western Carolina with the dream of becoming a teacher and a writer.
During Margaret's freshman year her family moved to California and wanted her to transfer to UCLA where she was accepted, but she was determined to stay at WCU not only for academics, but because she met Ted Gayle in the WCU college shop where he worked and they became fast and best friends. As their relationship blossomed, they knew that they had found their soul mate and lifelong love. Ted proposed with his famous line; "I think I found a way for you to stay in NC". They were married at Badin Presbyterian Church in Ted's hometown and lived there as Margaret enrolled in Pfeiffer College and they started a family. Over the years they had four daughters and the family moved to Siler City, NC where they were active in the First Presbyterian Church.
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Ted's employer, Collins & Aikman, transferred him to Old Fort and the family relocated to Marion, NC. While there and raising her daughters, Margaret worked full time and managed to get her Masters Degree in Library Science. She worked for the schools as a librarian for Marion Elementary School, Media Specialist for West McDowell Junior High School, and Assistance Principal for McDowell High School. Margaret was presented with an opportunity to work at the NC Department of Public Instruction in Raleigh and made many contributions throughout the state that impacted K-12 learning. It was Ted's turn to follow her for a job.
During her time in Raleigh, Margaret co-authored two books with futurist Marvin Cetron titled "Schools of the Future" and "Educational Renaissance". She lectured and delivered keynote speeches throughout the US, Pakistan and New Zealand. She joined Duke University and became Executive Director of the American Association for Gifted Children where she worked for 26 years. Her lifelong love of learning and commitment to education, as well as her vast experience, culminated in her meaningful work on Project Bright IDEA, a joint program between the NC Dept. of Public Instruction and Duke University which offered a curriculum aimed at closing the achievement gap and increasing the number of gifted students from underrepresented populations by changing teachers' dispositions and their capacity to wisely use curricula tailored to teaching those students. Margaret advocated for gifted children and youth. "Her contributions to the elevation of the socio-emotional and academic needs of these students and her care and support for educators and NC public schools will endure" says her Duke colleague Dr. Kristen Stephens.
Margaret was a devoted mother, friend and family caretaker. She brought home her Mother in law Lilly, her mother Kitty and her Uncle John to live out their final years. She was active in her church her entire life and one of her last passions was women's prison ministries and the First Presbyterian Church. Margaret was a lifelong and active member of the Democratic Party. She supported the arts and was a longtime patron of the NC Symphony, the NC Museum of the Art and National Public Radio. She loved to write poetry and was still excited by books and was a current member of the Capital Oaks Book Club.
She taught her daughters to pursue their passions and work hard, to be kind, and to help others while seeing unique gifts in everyone. Margaret adored her Grandsons Palmer and Payton and found so much joy in the children around her. She loved animals, rescued many stray cats and indulged her daughter's requests for pets of all kinds from fish to horses and everything in between. Margaret and Ted's last dog was their beloved rescued Pitbull Annie.
It's hard to describe the impact Margaret has had on students, teachers, family, friends, and people in her community, NC and the across the US. Margaret had the natural ability to show empathy to everyone. She was generous with her time, attention, and support to anyone that needed it. She was excited by ideas and beauty and hopeful for the future. She truly valued others and their happiness. Margaret had a desire to make the world around her better. She was always grateful and often said how lucky she was. Even in the last hours of life her brain was busy: guiding her daughters with instructions, saying goodbye to friends, and letting all know that she loved them and she had so much work left to do, even giving resources to a nurse regarding his children's education. She realized at a very young age that the good in your life comes from those around you, and she had amazing life.
Margaret is survived by four daughters Tanya Gayle (Terry) of Jasper GA, Pamela Jones (Raleigh), Christy Gayle (Reidsville) and Laurie Gayle (Chris) (Raleigh) and two grandsons Palmer (Colorado) and Payton Jones (Raleigh). She was preceded in death by her husband Ted Gayle and two Son-in Laws, Ian Swan Gillies (Tanya) and Robert Kesterson (Christy).
A Memorial Service to celebrate Margaret's life will be held November 10th 2:00 p.m. with a reception to follow at First Presbyterian Church, 112 S. Salisbury Street, Raleigh and her Interment will be in the Columbarium there.
In lieu of flowers, you may make a gift in Margaret's memory to the First Presbyterian Church of Raleigh https://fpcraleigh.org/give or NC State College of Education (Margaret and Tanya Gayle Scholarship Endowment) https://go.ncsu.edu/gaylescholarship.
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