Gayle Marie McMeekin

Gayle Marie (Jacobson) (Pearson) McMeekin, 73, formerly of Willmar, died Sunday, August 30th at The Bardo Hospice Home in Inver Grove Heights. Her memorial service will be at 2:00 pm, Saturday, October 10th at Bethel Lutheran Church in Willmar. Visitation will be one hour prior to her service. Arrangements are with Harvey Anderson & Johnson Funeral Home in Willmar, www.hafh.org.

Gayle's service will be live-streamed on Bethel's Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/Bethelinwillmar/videos)

Gayle Marie Jacobson was born October 27, 1952, to Robert and Joyce (Wetterling) Jacobson in Redwood Falls, Minnesota. Gayle completed elementary school in Elbow Lake, Minnesota.  At the age of twelve, she moved with her family to Willmar, where she graduated from Willmar High School in 1970. She continued her education at Willmar Community College and St. Cloud State College, earning a teaching degree with a minor in art.

Gayle began her career as an elementary school teacher, working with children who needed additional support. She especially enjoyed teaching drama during summer school and treasured the creativity and joy of her students. Later, she retrained in computers at Control Data Institute and began a successful career in software development and testing, eventually working for NCR Comten, Keane Consulting, IBM, and Thomson Reuters. She retired from Thomson Reuters in 2016.

Throughout her life, Gayle was deeply creative. She loved painting, particularly watercolor, as well as weaving, spinning, felting, and silk dyeing. She sold her handmade artwork at events including the Uptown Art Fair and Renaissance Festival. She also loved gardening and created beautiful flower gardens around her home south of Hayfield, a place she considered her “heart home.” She enjoyed singing in the choir at Trinity Lutheran Church and, during retirement, discovered a great love for playing 500 with friends at the Hayfield Senior Center.

Gayle was married to Charlie Pearson in 1972, and they later divorced but remained lifelong friends. In 1983, she married Cliff McMeekin, and they later divorced while also remaining close friends. Gayle’s greatest heartbreak was the loss of her daughter, Chelsea Marie Pearson, who passed away as an infant in 1980.

Gayle is survived by her mother, Joyce Jacobson; sisters: Judy Nelson (and husband, Jim Cox) and Kari Rechtzigel and many nieces, nephews and other family and friends.

She was preceded in death by her daughter, Chelsea Marie Pearson and her father, Robert Jacobson.

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