Please click on the video tribute below to view Gayle's burial service. A public memorial service will be held at a later date.

It was a cold winter night in December when 13-year-old Donald Lee of Ada was beckoned by his mother to bundle up and quickly race over to Bang's Market.  Once there, he was to purchase a quart of vanilla ice cream, then rush back home for the family celebration. The occasion?  The birth of his sister, Gayle.

Gayle Phyllis Lee, the daughter of Theodore "Tote" Lee and Mabel (Bjorem) Lee, was one of three cousins to enter the world on December 15, 1937.  Gayle sadly left this world on Sunday, November 8, 2020, at the age of 82.

Gayle grew up on the north side of Ada, just west of the baseball field.  Always a hard worker, she started babysitting at age 10 for the Bob and Nonie Skalsky family on a farm near Ada.  Besides babysitting, Gayle often talked about being a pin girl at the Ada bowling alley.  Her responsibility, prior to the advent of automatic pin setters, was to carefully set up all 10 pins between frames.

She was one of 50 kids, 25 girls and 25 boys, who graduated from Ada High School in 1955.  These seniors had the privilege of being the first class to graduate from the newly-constructed high school, then located where the Dekko Center sits today.

Gayle was proud of the fact that she once won a local dance contest in high school and was one of a handful of daredevil seniors who mischievously climbed the Ada water tower on graduation night.

After graduating from high school, Gayle had an offer to work as a secretary / receptionist for a local law firm.  By then, however, she had already met her future husband, Lowell Jacobson, at an LRC dance in Halstad.  They were married on July 14, 1956, at Grace Lutheran Church in Ada.  Their marriage lasted for 61 years, until Lowell's death in April of 2018.

For 41 years, the couple made their home on the Jacobson family farm, located between Shelly and Lockhart in Good Hope township.  They raised four children there: LeAnn, Bryan, Karen and Scott.  In the early years of marriage, besides helping on the farm and raising a family, Gayle worked for the Skalsky brothers, Bob and Vernon, of Ada, picking and sorting potatoes.  Once the children were older, Gayle went to work at the Halstad Lutheran Memorial Home.  Later, she was employed by the John Wimmer Memorial Home in Ada.

Gayle and Lowell lived on the farm until the summer of 1997.  They moved to Ada following the historic spring flood and due to Gayle's chronic health problems.  Once in town, Gayle began working in group homes, serving and assisting people with disabilities.  In 2004, Gayle and Lowell invited their grandson, Nash, to live with them, and they raised Nash to adulthood.

In the summer of 2006, Gayle retired from her position at the group homes and Lowell retired from farming.  They continued to make their residence in Ada for the remainder of their lives.

For the past several years, Gayle had been a faithful listener to KRJB radio in Ada.  She seldom, if ever, missed an Ada-Borup varsity basketball game.  A favorite memento of hers was a basketball that was graciously signed by Coach Smart and his entire 2018-19 Ada-Borup girls' basketball team.

Although Gayle suffered tremendously in the last several months of her life, she always enjoyed going for car rides, her weekly Thursday morning hair appointment with Lori, eating dinner at ARC Lanes, and stopping for a butterscotch-dipped cone at the Outpost Drive-Inn.

On Halloween night 2020, just one week before she passed away, Gayle handed out candy to over 100 trick-or-treaters.  She loved the kids and for the next week, she couldn't stop talking about that special evening.  She couldn't believe all the children who stopped by and saw "Grandma Gayle."

Gayle was often opinionated and she left little doubt that she hated icy roads, snowstorms, guns and bees.  On the flip side, however, she loved children, the game show network, sitting on her back deck and drinking Diet Coke.

Throughout her life, Gayle was known for her quick wit, sense of humor and a heart of gold.  She never turned away a friend or a family member who was in need of money, food, a place for the holidays or a place to call home.

Despite the sadness of her death, because of her saving faith in Jesus Christ, Gayle is now in the presence of her Savior with no more suffering, pain or sorrow.  Although it is safe to say that her earthly home could never compare to the splendor and glory of her heavenly home, it is also safe to say that she was proud to have once called Ada "home."

Gayle was preceded in death by her husband, Lowell, parents Tote and Mabel Lee, and brother Donald.  She is survived by her children, LeAnn (Charlie) Evenson, Prescott, WI, Bryan (Corinne) Jacobson, Fargo, ND, Karen (Kent) Hurst, Florence, AZ, Scott Jacobson, Shelly, MN; five grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, and several nieces, nephews, cousins, and close friends.

Memorials preferred to: Grace Lutheran Church in Ada, MN, or to the Lupus Research Alliance.

Condolences to the family can be sent to LeAnn Evenson, 332 Oak Street, Prescott, WI 54021.

Graveside Service: A private family only graveside service will take place on Thursday, November 19, 2020 at Ada Municipal Cemetery, Ada, MN, following all of the Minnesota and CDC COVID-19 social distancing guidelines. All are encouraged to wear a mask.

A public memorial service will be held at a later date.

Please view our guestbook and share condolences online for the family.