Obituary – Faye H. Gable

ALTHA, FL – Faye H. Gable, 96, died Friday, July 5, 2024 at Marianna Health & Rehabilitation. She was born August 12, 1927 in Trenton, FL, to Henry and Thelma Hutchinson.

Growing up as the eighth youngest in a family of nine children taught her a lot. Her father worked as a sharecropper throughout North and Central Florida, which required frequent moves. She said this experience taught her to adapt more easily to frequent changes in life.

As a child, she was taught sewing, cooking, preserving foods, and home management by her mother. This prepared her for her most cherished role, wife and mother. She fell in love and married when she was 27 and fully committed to being a farmer’s wife. The success of their farm was a reflection of their love for the land and ability to do ‘what it takes’ to get things done. For her, this included managing their home and accounts during growing and harvesting season, cooking daily meals for 8-12 hired hands and tending a garden. But what she loved most was nurturing the well-being of her husband and children. She led by example, and her love of reading, learning, service to church and community, and faith were daily lessons in the home.

Faye attended Frink High School where she played girls basketball. She played on the team that made it to regionals and their picture hangs in the Panhandle Pioneer Settlement in Blountstown.

Faye attended Massey Business College where she focused on honoring her accounting and secretarial skills. Those skills provided her the opportunity to work as the Executive Secretary for the highest-ranking officer at U.S. Naval Diving and Training Center in Panama City.

Through her professional career she worked for many doctors offices across North Florida and retired from the medical records department at Jackson Hospital. She loved taking care of people.As one born into what is now honored as the “Greatest Generation”, she experienced the struggles of the Great Depression –  the sadness and worry of watching her brothers, friends and neighbors leave for war; the challenge of attaining a diploma during a time when women weren’t encouraged to pursue a professional career; and the discord of the 60’s. She experienced looking forward to hearing an hour of the Grand Ole Opry on the radio once a week to having access to numerous TV channels and movies any time of the day; from catching the Greyhound bus to flying in planes; from using a washer wringer on the back porch to a multiple cycle washer and dryer in a laundry room; from watching planes fly in the sky to watching on TV the first men to walk on the moon; and from pounding a typewriter as a secretary to using a word processor as a senior citizen. Through these experiences, she learned life is challenging and requires courage to persevere. She demonstrated that with hard work and the ability to laugh with and love those around you.

Her strength came from God (Isaiah 12:2) and from that, “We know in all things God Works for the good of those who love Him.” (James 1: 17-19) in her life.

She was a member of Antioch Baptist Church for decades and supported its growth and maintenance. This included teaching Sunday School for all ages of children, writing and producing children’s Christmas plays and participating in the wonderful ‘pot luck’ dinners Antioch is known for throughout the community.

In her later years, when she could no longer attend service, Antioch’s numerous cards and contacts delighted her and represented to her the faith and love of Christ’s family.

Her desire to travel was always overshadowed by the demands of farming, but at the age of 79, she finally took her first international trip halfway around the world to Australia. By age 84, she had clocked five international trips to Australia, Ireland and France (including Omaha Beach where her brother landed in WW2), and several trips throughout the United States. She loved traveling, and often set a pace people 20 years her junior couldn’t keep up, and loved sharing pictures of these travels with her church family.

In her final years, she began and ended every day with a smile, found delight in the smallest of things, and began her night with her mantra, ‘If I can ever help you, please let me know’ and ‘I love you and God Bless you’.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Rozier Henry Hutchinson and Thelma Gertrude (Lipford) Hutchinson; siblings, Polk Dewey Hutchinson, William Franklin Hutchinson, John Rudolph Hutchinson, Gladys Mabel (Hutchinson) Wood, Thomas Jefferson Hutchinson, Ralph (Bat) Peterson Hutchinson, Roy Harrison Hutchinson, Eula Jean Sue (Hutchison) Dykes.Faye is survived her children, William Ervin Gable, Jr., Elizabeth Sue (Gable) Dominski and husband, David Michael Dominski, Linda Faye Gable, Carol Ann (Gable) Monteagudo-Clemence and husband, Graham Sydney Clemence; grandchildren, Michael Dominski (Amy), Sarah Callicott (Jay), Rachel Etchison (Steven), Rebecca Lincoln (Mathew), Jessica Wood, Catherine Gable Monteagudo, Alexander William Jorge Monteagudo, Jordan Andrew Gable, Elizabeth Clarissa Gable and 10 great-grandchildren.Services will be at 2 p.m.  Thursday, July 11 at Antioch Baptist Church with Pastors Kevin Yoder and John Miles officiating. Burial will follow at Mt. Olive Cemetery in Altha with James & Sikes Funeral Home Maddox Chapel directing.

The family will receive friends from 4-6 p.m. Wednesday, July 10 at James & Sikes Funeral Home Maddox Chapel.

Special thanks to Carolyn Keller for her love, support and care through the years; to Cierra Price for professional care, provided with much love and kindness in her last months;  and Dr. Robin Albritton and staff for their professional care and support since 2012.  Thanks also to Vitas Hospice and Marianna Health and Rehab Center for their exceptional care.

Flowers accepted or donations may be made to Antioch Baptist Church.