Gale M. Foulds
1940-2024
Gale M. Foulds passed from our lives Friday, March 22nd, 2024 at Winchester hospital.
Born October 31st, 1940, in Abilene, Texas, she attended Abilene High School and, in 1958, she began her global journey, visiting Switzerland with the National Girl Scouts of America where she made a group of lifelong friends.
She attended Trinity University in San Antonio, graduating (1962) with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a teaching certificate, and where she met her husband, David Gareth Foulds (1961).
Married in 1962, Gale followed her husband in his military career for the next 30 years starting with their first post in Olympia, WA. Upon Gareth’s return from Vietnam in 1966, they spent the next 62 years traveling the world together. They spent 18 years on the African continent. They lived in Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Sudan, and Algeria. They also spent many years in the Washington, D.C. area, where Gale was an interior designer and together, they renovated 3 houses. By the mid 1980’s, tired of just following her husband’s career, Gale became a State Department officer, serving our country for twenty years, and was stationed with her husband in Tunisia, Ethiopia and Djibouti.
Gale and Gareth purchased property in Morgan County, West Virginia as a summer place in 1992 where they remodeled an old barn and made it into their home for the following 20 years. Subsequently they moved into Berkeley Springs (historically the Town of Bath), WV post-Covid in 2020. They restored the original Town Hall (formerly Joe’s Radio Shop) to Historical Specifications and remodeled Barker’s Filling Station into the Trail Depot. Gale was a nature lover and Master Gardener, and an active member and former president of the Foxglove Garden Club, as well as the president of the Sleepy Creek Watershed Association for 13 years. She was also a member of the Morgan Arts Council and a passionate supporter of the Ice House in downtown Berkely Springs. Gale loved her global community and worked tirelessly to bring positive energy to everyone around her.
She is survived by her husband Gareth Foulds, her two daughters Leigha Eshner (her husband Dan Eshner) and Ainsley Gottrich (her husband Daniel Gottrich) and her 5 grandchildren David Eshner, Elina Eshner, Kyla Eshner, Ryan Gottrich and Asher Gottrich.
Gale and her husband have donated their physical bodies to the University of West Virginia medical school so there will be no viewing or memorial service.
Donations can be made to the “Gale Foulds Eco-Legacy Fund” for installation of solar panels on our beloved Ice House through the Morgan Arts Council at www.macicehouse.org or 304-258-2300.
There will be a Gathering of Friends and Family Saturday, April 6th, 2024 from 1 p.m-3 p.m. at the Ice House at 138 Independence Street in Berkeley Springs, WV 25411.
