In Memoriam

Gaile Noble, MSW ’73, of Kamloops, B.C., died June 26, 2009 at the Royal Inland Hospital. She was the first child born to Hubert C. Noble, a Presbyterian minister and Janice M. Noble, a housewife on Nov. 18, 1937 in Downey, Calif. Gaile grew up in Downey and, later, in Eagle Rock, Calif,. through 1955 when she graduated from Eagle Rock High School. She went on to earn a B.A. from Barnard College (1959), an M.S. from Cornell University (1969) and an M.S.W. from the University of Washington (1973).

Gaile’s career took her to many places: From 1962-64 she was a family services caseworker for the Washington State Department of Social Services in Everett, Wash. From 1964-67 she wroked for the U.S. Peace Corps in rural community development with the Mapuche Indians of southern Chile.

From 1967-69 Gaile was a volunteer and researcher with the black civil rights movement in rural Mississippi, and from 1969-71 she taught high school and was an adult instructor at the Ganado Learning Centre on the Navajo reservation in Arizona. From 1972-73 she was a graduate teaching assistant at the UW School of Social Work. And from 1974-77 she worked as a consultant and researcher during the MacKenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry, Committee for the Original Peoples’ Entitlement, Inuvik, N.W.T.

From 1977-78 Gaile was an assistant professor in the School of Social Work at Memorial University in St. John’s, Newfoundland. From 1979-84 she was coordinator of Native Programs with the Carrier–Sekanni Bands of the Central Interior, College of New Caledonia, Prince George, B.C. From 1985-87 Gaile was a regional social worker and adviser to Indian Band Social Workers in the Yukon and on Vancouver Island, Canada, and from 1987-99 she was a student counselor at Yukon College in Whitehorse, Yukon Territories, Canada.

During her career, Gaile published many articles and presented professional papers and speeches. She was also an avid camper who loved fishing and hiking. She read widely and maintained an active interest in local, provincial and national affairs in both Canada and the U.S., as demonstrated by her frequent and pointed letters to the newspapers and government officials.

Gaile retired in 1999 and moved to Merritt, B.C., before moving finally to Kamloops in 2001. She is survived by her sister, Leslie Purdy (nee Noble), brother-in-law Ralph E. Purdy of Novato, Calif., and r nephews Chris Purdy of Napa, Calif. and Colin Purdy of Chico, Calif. At Gaile's request there will be no formal services but expressions of sympathy may be made in the form of a donation to the Kamloops Food Bank and Outreach Society, 171 Wilson St. Kamloops, B.C. V2b 2M8