Gail Anthony Brittain Gilchrist

Gail Anthony Brittain Gilchrist was born in Birmingham, Alabama on April 15, 1938 and died on August 10, 2018 in Fairhope, Alabama after living with Alzheimer’s disease for eight years. Her brave spirit marked that time with her customary determination, grace and well-known humor. Gail’s friends and family knew her as a master cook and accomplished artist. Her humor constantly enlivened the conversation and her passion for justice often challenged prevailing attitudes. Friends and family agreed that Gail was unique in this world. A tribute to Gail from her dear friend, Hope Buckner; “Her genuineness, her artistry, her willingness to be wacky, her love of color and flouncy clothes, her laughter, her knowingly not following the pack attracted me more and more as I came to love her like a sister.” She was the second daughter of Lenora Perkins Brittain and James Anthony Brittain. She was predeceased by her sister, Edah Brittain Grover. She graduated from Lake View School and Ramsay High School, both in Birmingham. After attending the University of Colorado for two years, she received a BA degree in English from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She was presented at The Birmingham Redstone Club’s Ball in December, 1958. In her young adult life she was mother to a growing family of three children and was active in the Junior League of Birmingham and its emerging activities in civil rights. As the children grew older, she attended the University of Alabama, Birmingham where she received a Master of Arts degree in Education. Following her passion for helping people live full and safe lives, she became the first woman Director of the Birmingham Crisis Center where she oversaw several hundred volunteers. Gail married the Rev. John Richard Gilchrist in 1982 and together they moved to Auburn, Alabama where Gail continued and deepened a life-long love of all things art with her degree in Interior Design from Auburn’s School of Architecture. At graduation she was awarded the honor of Best Designer by her professors and fellow students. Her academic work completed, she began a brilliant new career as she was hired by her professor, Bobby McAlpine, of Montgomery, Alabama where she worked for several years before the couple moved to St. Louis. There Gail worked in the firm, Pierce, Turner and Nickolajevich. Having later moved to Connecticut, Gail worked in the firm, Russell, Gibson, Von Dohlen in Farmington. Soon the couple moved to Ridgefield, Connecticut where Dick was rector of St. Stephen’s Church. During their years in Ridgefield, Gail painted murals in New York City and state, Connecticut, Maine, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Vero Beach, Florida, and Chester, England. During her years as a water colorist, Gail worked with the renowned teacher, Skip Lawrence, in New York, Maine and New Orleans where the couple lived for a year. The couple spent the summer of 1995 in Florence, Italy where Gail massed a portfolio of paintings. Both the Florence and New Orleans paintings were show sellouts. During her years in Ridgefield, Gail was a co-founder of the Artique Seven, a group of seven artisans who produced paintings, pottery, weaving and other objects of art for their annual December show. Gail’s last mural was in 2014, a gift to young friends who were just opening a grill in Prospect Harbor, Maine. While noticing a blank wall in an expanded section of the grill, Gail offered to paint a typical Maine scene. The owners immediately accepted the offer with thanks for Gail’s parting gift to young friends and the community. She is survived by her loving husband, John R. Gilchrist, her eldest son, James Milton Collins and his wife, Sara Hacker Collins, and their son, James Henry Collins of Birmingham, her daughter, Patricia Collins Steele and her husband, Mark Leon Steele, and their children, Andrew Brittain Edge, Robert Thomas Steele, Maya Ann Steele, all of Atlanta and Haley Steele Houser and her husband, Christopher Houser of Nashville, Tennessee, and her younger son, Robert Purcell Collins, Ph.D and his wife, Amy Boardman, MD, and their children, William Boardman Collins and Sophie Boardman Collins all of Charlotte, North Carolina and her brother-in-law Philip M. Grover of Birmingham. Gail loved her step children and grandchildren; Josephine Gilchrist Prado, Ph.D and her children, Ana Emilia Prado and husband Jeremy Lo, and Ian Francisco Prado all of Birmingham, John Richard Gilchrist, Jr. MBA and his wife, Leigh Zimmerman Gilchrist, Ph.D and their children, John Eric Gilchrist and Chandler Grace Gilchrist all of Brentwood, Tennessee. The family wishes to express deepest thanks to Gail’s friends, her family, and Comfort Care Hospice of Fairhope for their love and support.  A celebration of Gail’s life will be held at St. James’ Episcopal Church, 860 North Section Street, Fairhope, Alabama 36532 at 11:00 AM on Saturday, August 25th. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. James’ Church, The Alzheimer’s Association, P.O. Box 96011, Washington D.C. 20090-6011 or to Comfort care Hospice at 22502 U.S. Highway 98, Fairhope, AL 36532.     ARRANGEMENTS BYWOLFE-BAYVIEWFUNERAL HOMES& CREMATORY, INC.19698 GREENO RDFAIRHOPE, AL 36532251-990-7775