Gail Ellen (Johnson) Hanowell 1946 - 2025

Gail Ellen (Johnson) Hanowell, 79, died peacefully on July 3, 2025, in McMinnville, Oregon.

She was born June 11, 1946, in Colfax, Washington, to Robert Lyle and Ellen Lora Johnson. She grew up with her brothers in the rural Eastern Washington town of Othello, where their parents taught school and operated a small farm. The wide-open spaces of that agricultural area remained Gail’s favorite landscape.

A gifted student, she exhibited an early aptitude for language and memorization, reciting full-length poems by the age of three. She graduated with honors in 1964 from Othello High School. When she met a friend’s cousin, Jerry Hanowell, in 1966, it was the beginning of a love story that continued until his death in 2022.

In 1967, the couple married at Gail’s parents’ home. After a shoestring honeymoon in Europe, they completed their degrees at Washington State University. The VISTA program, now part of AmeriCorps, took them to Eastern Montana, where they lived for a time in Lodge Grass, and then Hardin, while Jerry taught school at Crow Agency. They later settled in Clarkston, Washington, to raise their children, Racheal and Peter, who were enriched by the combination of their mother’s intellectual vibrancy and their father’s fun-loving nature.

Gail worked for many years at the Asotin County Library, becoming director after earning a master’s degree in Library Science from the University of Arizona. When their kids moved away, Gail and Jerry left their jobs and went looking for their next chapter, which they found in Missoula, Montana. Gail worked until her retirement as a reference librarian at the Missoula Public Library. She and Jerry made many dear friends in a city that immediately felt like home.

They were avid readers, active community members, enthusiastic travelers, and shared an appreciation of art, movies, music, and theater. Gail especially loved literature and poetry, and brought intelligence and insight to her experience of both.

She rediscovered knitting after many years and started a knitting group, Yarns at the Library, that continues today in Missoula. She also enjoyed playing board and card games, where her competitive spirit was always on full display. Gail never drove but was a great walker, setting a brisk pace that others struggled to match. She was a loyal and generous friend and a thoughtful gift giver.

In 2017, the Hanowells moved to McMinnville to be closer to their daughter. When Jerry became ill in 2018, and required a bone marrow transplant, Gail threw herself into managing his complicated treatment and recovery with great love and singular determination. Not long after he died, she was diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia, leading to a move last year to Hillside Community’s memory support unit, where she received loving, respectful care.

She is survived by her children, Racheal Winter of McMinnville, and Peter Hanowell (Robin) of Tallahassee, Florida; grandchildren, Marley, Zeta, Henry, Sam, and Abby; and brothers, Robert Johnson (Susan) of Walla Walla, Washington, Richard Johnson (Margaret) of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and Jerry Johnson (Dieneba) of Fort Collins, Colorado. In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by her parents; brother, Anthony Johnson; and son-in-law, Gordon Winter.