Gail Smith Gerrish

Gail Smith Gerrish

3.10.1941 - 1.29.2026

Gail (Smith) Gerrish, beloved wife, mother, sister, aunt, great aunt and friend, passed away on January 29, 2026 in Boulder, Colorado at the age of 84.

The oldest daughter of Jean and Winchester Smith, she grew up in Melrose Massachusetts with her parents and two sisters, Lynn (Smith) Short and Debra (Smith) Chiampa. After graduating from Colby College, she worked for the New England Telephone and Telegraph where she was hired as the first college graduate to train as a Group Chief Operator.

Gail and her future husband Allan Martyn Gerrish actually both grew up in Melrose and although they didn't spend much time together as children, their parents were close friends. Family lore has it that Allan's mother mentioned that Gail had recently graduated from Colby and he should give her a call and the rest is history. They were married in the summer of 1963 just after Allan received his Doctorate in Electrical Engineering from Yale.

They began their lifelong adventure together as they took a monthlong honeymoon camping and driving across the TransCanada Highway from Montreal to Banff and Lake Louise. Discovering the majesty of the western peaks together fueled a love of the Rocky Mountains beauty and lifestyle.

They came home and settled into an apartment overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in Highlands, New Jersey where Allan began his 25 year career at Bell Labs and where their daughter Allison was born. Allan's career took them to Boulder Colorado in 1973 and Gail found herself realizing her dream of living in the Rocky Mountains. She embraced backpacking, downhill skiing, river rafting and studying the rocks, minerals and wildflowers of her new home.

Gail was a knowledgeable, self-taught naturalist and believer in macrobiotic cuisine and holistic medicine. She tirelessly experimented in the culinary arts, incorporating raw and plant based food into her cooking long before it was mainstream. She loved gardening and studied Ikebana in San Francisco in the 1990s.

Fiercely loyal and kind, her life was filled with a variety of civic activities, including as a Brownie Troop leader, a volunteer for the Red Cross, a Sunday school teacher, and consulting at a non profit for pregnant women. In 2004, she and Allan began the Gerrish Fund for Spiritual Enrichment to help Colby College students feel better prepared for the ethical and moral decisions they would face in their lives after graduation. The fund brought speakers to the campus to interact with the students both through lectures and more personally in the classrooms.

Her heart never fully left New England however and she continued to spend summers in Melvin Village, New Hampshire, on Lake Winnipesaukee. In later years, she was involved with philanthropic efforts for the Lakes Region Conservation Trust and The Castle Preservation Society in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire.

Gail is survived by her daughter Allison, her two sisters as well as her many nieces and nephews and their families.

Three family services are being held in Boulder, Colorado, Melvin Village, New Hampshire and Mattapoisett, Massachusetts. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be sent to the Lakes Region Conservation Trust, PO Box 766, 156 Dane Road, Center Harbor, NH 03226, www.lrct.org.