Gail Wildey Harmston

With profound sadness, we announce the passing of Gail Wildey Harmston, who passed away peacefully on July 8, 2026, in Lehi, Utah, at the age of 83.

Gail was born on November 13, 1942, to John Robert Wildey (1920–2005) and June Marion Keubel Wildey (1920–2017). She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, George McKay Harmston (1940–2023), with whom she shared a lifetime of love, devotion, and family.

She is survived by her younger brother, Gary Wildey (Beth); her sons, John (Rebecca), Wesley (Aiden), and Robert Harmston; and ten cherished grandchildren, who were a constant source of joy and pride throughout her life.

Gail was born in Rochester, NY in 1942. Her first couple years were spent travelling around as an “army brat” until the conclusion of WWII and her family returned to Rochester. She was still a young child when her father built the family home in the Irondequoit suburbs of Rochester.

She attended Laurelton Elementary School, Rueben Dake Middle School, and Benjamin Franklin High School, where she was classmates with world-famous musician Chuck Mangione. Gail and her family were baptized into the LDS church in June 1963. During high school Gail didn’t ride a school bus. Instead, she was expected to ride a city bus to downtown, then get on another bus to ride back towards her house to get to high school. She continued to take that same bus after graduation since her first job was downtown at the Edward’s Department Store. There she worked in the bridal shop and as the train engineer at Christmastime.

She attended Rochester Institute of Technology and earned a Bachelor of Science. Upon graduation, she took a job at Strong Memorial Hospital as a lab technician for noted gastroenterologist Dr. Harry Segal. She decided to attend BYU for graduate studies where she met future husband George Harmston at a family home evening activity between their apartments. They got engaged at BYU (the bishop of her student ward was legendary coach Lavell Edwards). She danced on the BYU Folk Dance Team while there and enjoyed square dancing and ballroom dancing with George for many years afterwards.

The couple decided to move back to her hometown where they married. She returned to school to finish her Masters Degree at the University of Rochester, before accepting a job teaching science at Benjamin Franklin High School. During that time, she became pregnant with son John. Her students asked her, “What if you have your baby right now?” and she replied, “I guess that would be a good biology lesson.” She later completed a Master of Education at Nazareth College. She also held many teaching positions for the LDS church.

Once the family moved to Palmyra, NY, Gail took a job teaching at Newark Jr. High School and eventually became the head of the science department, retiring from that job after 21 years. During that time, she had a profound effect on the lives of thousands of students and the surrounding community. While there, she was famous for organizing several annual events including the domino dribble, egg drop, paper airplane flyoffs, and rocket launches. Additionally, each year she and the music teacher would collaborate on a musical revue, equally beloved by the students and audiences.

Gail was crafty her whole life, as an expert seamstress, quilter, and knitter, spinning her own thread and yarn. She was famous for the elaborate Halloween costumes she made, along with coverlets and curtains she made for the Joseph Smith Cabin. She also made a replica of a vintage men's shirt that lays on the bed in the upstairs room of the Peter Whitmer Cabin in Fayette, NY. It was made from an 1800’s linen bedsheet using an appropriate pattern to represent a shirt worn by Joseph Smith. One time she entered a handstitched quilt into the NY State Fair, and it was disqualified because the judges couldn’t believe the tight, even stitches weren’t machine stitched.

She also served as the president of Historic Palmyra and was the curator of the William Phelps Store Museum. Historic Palmyra owned and managed several museums in Palmyra, including the Phelps Store Museum which was an 1868 general store that was boarded up in 1940 and forgotten for decades before being acquired as a museum. Several of the museums became popular as destinations for “ghosthunters”.

In 2000, Gail and George were made directors of the Palmyra Temple open house and the worldwide dedication ceremony. They were later temple workers. They also served a couple’s proselytizing mission in the Germany Hamburg Mission.

Gail and George spent several years as members of Off-Monroe Players, a Rochester-based Gilbert and Sullivan theater company filled with Eastman School of Music alumni. They both sang and acted in the company, while he helped with scenery, and she sewed costumes. In 2017 the couple moved into an old family home in South Salt Lake City where they lived until George’s passing in 2023. Since then, Gail has lived at a memory care facility in Lehi where she was a favorite of the staff, residents, and guests.

Gail's life was defined by the love she gave to her family, the friendships she nurtured, and the quiet strength and kindness that touched everyone who knew her. Her legacy will live on in the lives of those she loved and in the countless memories they will forever hold close to their hearts. A celebration of life party in her honor will be held in the coming weeks.