Gayle McDaniel

Anchorage resident, Gayle Leslie McDaniel, 56, passed away peacefully in her sleep at her residence on February 4, 2013.

Memorial Services will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday, February 15 at the Providence Alaska Medical Center East and West Auditorium, located in the lower level near the cafeteria. Rev. Patricia Wilson-Cone will officiate.

Gayle was born March 2, 1956 in Buffalo, New York. After graduating high school, she attended nursing school at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. She worked as a nurse in Billings, Montana; Houston, Texas; Yakima, Washington; Seattle, Washington and finally in Anchorage. She worked for a short time at Alaska Regional and for the past 23 years at Providence Alaska Medical Center. Gayle married John McDaniel on October 7, 1989 in Anchorage. She briefly lived in McCarthy, Alaska from May, 1989 to April, 1990 and has since been a resident of Anchorage. She thought she was going to lose her husband, John to cancer five years ago but he pulled through.

Gayle loved her animals. She had sled dogs for 18 years.

Her family wrote:" Gayle would always put other people ahead of herself. She went out of her way to help her friends. She had no children of her own so she doted on her friend's kids. She always had a smile or a laugh. She wanted a little 20 acre hobby farm in Eastern Washington where she could have a big garden, chickens, a big area for the dogs to run and at least two miniature donkeys."

Gayle is survived by her husband, John of Anchorage; and brother, David Dyckman of Carmel, New York.

She is preceded in death by her mother, Joyce Cotter and father, Richard Dyckman.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in memory of Gayle to Anchorage ASPCA or Friends of Pets.

Arrangements entrusted to the Cremation Society of Alaska. Words of comfort can be shared with the family at www.alaskacremation.com