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Gayle Scott dies of heart failure |
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Written by Elaine Marsilio
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Monday, 28 March 2005 11:00 PM |
Gayle Scott, Office of Student Activities administrative secretary, died Saturday of heart failure due to heart disease.
Scott, 59, was found in her Central Arlington home by her son, Jonathan, Saturday morning. She had been living with him and his wife, Iny, for about seven years.
Jonathan, who works for the digital library service in the university Central Library, said he picked his mother up from work Friday and they went to dinner.
Gayle watched a movie until midnight that evening, told everyone in the room that she loved them, and then went to bed. She died in her sleep, Jonathan said.
“There was no pain, no heart attack,” he said. “[Her heart] grew weaker and weaker until it stopped pumping all together.”
Jonathan said he spoke with the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office on Monday and was told the cause of death.
He said his mother was a diabetic and that she was being treated with insulin and other medication.
Many people are unaware of the possible risks of heart disease, he said.
“It’s basically a silent killer,” Jonathan said. “You don’t ever realize something’s wrong.”
Student Activities Director Mardie Sorensen, who was Gayle’s boss, remembers her as being “the sunshine in the basement” where the office is located in the University Center.
Gayle could tell when people needed a hug or a talk, or when they needed to be left alone, Sorensen said.
“To me, personally, Gayle was a second mom, a friend, a colleague and pretty much over the past three years a rock for me as I went through the death of my father,” she said.
Gayle had developed a friendship with Sorensen’s father, who lived in Vermont, since he would call the office and visit occasionally. He died in April 2004.
Gayle also helped the director by generating ideas for upcoming events and by organizing projects.
“I’m at a total loss about that,” Sorensen said. “I was the left hand, she was the right. I was the right shoe, she was the left. We were the perfect balance.”
Gayle worked for the office for 13 years. She had been promoted to administrative secretary in summer 2004.
Broadcast communication senior Roger Palmer, who works in the office, said he appreciated Gayle’s help when his truck was stolen on campus in fall 2004.
Palmer said Gayle called the UTA Police Department and was able to get him a new parking hangtag.
The office is establishing the Gayle Scott Leadership Scholarship, and it is collecting mementos for a memory book.
Student Activities will be closed from 1 to 4 p.m. Wednesday in observance of Gayle’s memory.
A funeral service will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Shannon Rose Hill Funeral Chapel at 7301 E. Lancaster Ave.
— Meredith Moore contributed to this article.
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