I met Gay way back in late 1991 when I interviewed with her for a producer/director position in the BioCommunications Department at UTMB in Galveston. I was working in broadcast news in Knoxville, TN at the time, but really wanted to get back home to my family in Texas. Several months later she hired me and changed my life forever.

For the next 12 years I would spend Monday-Friday, 8 AM-5 PM working with Gay on some of the most significant videos of my career. Her talents weren’t apparent to me when I first started working with her, but as the years passed, I began to realize her extraordinary talents as a gifted interviewer, creative writer and mentoring manager.

Gay taught me a lot of things related to video production, but more importantly about life. How to be a loving husband, a patient father, a supportive team member and so much more. But the greatest thing I learned from Gay was to respect people for who they are and to always try to find their value as a person. She loved meeting people, getting to really know them, developing meaningful relationships with them and especially helping them if needed. She gave equal respect to everyone. It didn’t matter if it was Stella, the housekeeper in Levin Hall where our offices were, or John Stobo, the president of UTMB.

Gay retired from UTMB in 2005, if my memory is correct, and for the next 15 years or so we stayed in contact and had a chance to visit face-to-face several times. After retirement she had such a full life traveling, spending time with her children and grandchildren and just enjoying life. As my career progressed, I would reach out to her for guidance. She always gave such great advice. And that advice helped lead me through a fairly successful career and into retirement. Now I can enjoy traveling, spending time with my children and grandchildren and enjoying life as well.

When Holly reached out to me to let me know Gay had passed at first I was extremely sad. Then as the days passed and I started reflecting on all that Gay taught me about life I realized I shouldn’t waste a second on being sad, but rather celebrate how extremely lucky and blessed we were to have spent so much time together and the amazing work we did and all the extremely talented people we had the privilege of getting to know.

One last memory I’d like to share is of the many hours Gay spent on the road traveling from Galveston to the hill country to take care of her mother. She did this every weekend for what seemed like years. She never complained about the hours on the road or the many hassles she endured while being her mother’s advocate. The love she had for her mother was inspirational and I’m sure they had a joyful reunion in heaven.

Thanks to Holly for the opportunity to join in celebrating such an amazing woman!

Let’s put on a show!! That was always her attitude, and when she took a notion to do something ambitious, that can-do spirit sent her rolling up her sleeves to work. The unknown and uncertain never fazed her. In 1968, we’d spent a year doing grown-up jobs (she worked for the State of Missouri’s Social Services department and I was teaching freshman comp at Southwest Missouri State), so she was ready for an adventure. We tossed out most of our furniture, bought an old ’49 International Harvester pickup, knocked up a plywood camper shell, and took off for Mexico. (The pickup lasted until we got to Fredericksburg, where we traded it for a used VW Squareback.) We lived in Guanajuato and Cuernavaca and drove all around the country, hit a burro outside Guadalajara that overturned the car, but we crawled out a window, her laughing. When we got back to Springfield months later with no plans, a benefactor offered a very rundown farmhouse with no heating that had been inhabited by, first, human squatters, and then possums and raccoons and mice, so we took it. She was up to all the work. She sometimes reminded me of an ant – she could heft three or four times her weight. While living there, she started an avant-garde theatre in an empty storefront on Commercial Street where she produced and directed triple-off-Broadway plays, and soon it drew in other young directors and actors, and the enterprise ran two summer seasons. Then she talked the local NBC affiliate – KY3, it’s known as – into producing and directing the station’s first efforts at public affairs features and documentaries, and over the course of a couple of years, she made 30-minute programs on local issues – STDs and water quality were two, I recall. She and the station got an Emmy nomination for Public Service broadcasting.

She never waited for somebody to give her permission to do something unless it was absolutely necessary. Her grit and ferociously independent spirit always made her seem a whole lot bigger than her actual size.

So sorry to hear about Gay's passing. We were very close friends in our college days at North Texas. I had a super crush on her too (lost her to Charlie). She always encouraged me to pursue a career in music and her support meant the world to me.  She even tried to teach me how to dance, probably one of the only failures in her artistic life. 

She was one of the most positive people I ever met, literally a ray of sunshine. Gay Dawn was the perfect name for her, her mother named her wisely.  We stayed in touch over the years until I finally lost contact with her. She was such a special lady and I know her family and friends will miss her.  I will always remember that beautiful warm smile of hers, it still glows even after all these years. She was wonderful. 

Going through keepsakes recently, I ran across a note that Gay sent me soon after Holly and Brandy married. It read in part:

“I used to think parenting was the hardest job in the world. I still do, but after having watched Holly as a step-parent, it’s certainly a close runner-up. You were there, too, and we all benefited from it.”

It was a kind, generous thing for her to take the time to share that thought with me. I treasured it then, and I do still.

Gay liked my pizza.

Sharing pizza forges deep and lasting relationships. Our strong pizza connection gave her the patience to guide me through a variety of important university events. Gay scripted and directed my emceeing many annual employee recognition celebrations and several Alumni and Development Board presentations. Her words conveyed the warmth and appreciation UTMB had for each of these constituencies. I was lucky! I got to speak those words.

I was lucky. I got to know Gay Parrish.