Gayl Gitch

Gayl L. Gitch age 73 of Fredericksburg, IA, died Wednesday, June 1, 2016, at Linn Haven Rehab and Healthcare in New Hampton. Funeral services will be held 2:00 p.m. Monday, June 6, 2016, at St. Paul Lutheran Church, Fredericksburg with Rev. Ronnie Koch presiding. Interment will be in the Faith United Church of Christ Cemetery, Tripoli. Friends may greet the family 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. Sunday, June 5, 2016, at the Hugeback-Johnson Funeral Home in Fredericksburg. Visitation will continue an hour prior to the service at the church on Monday. Gayl Lee Gitch was born January 15, 1943, in New Hampton, IA, the son of Alvin L. and Beth (Chambers) Gitch. He graduated from the Fredericksburg High School in 1961, Wartburg College in 1964 and the University of Northern Iowa in 1970. He taught mathematics, coached, and became a school administrator in Iowa and Minnesota. He was an all-state football and baseball player, an all-state vocalist, musician, and avid sports fan. Gayl married Dianne Laabs and they later were divorced. He married Ruth Sassmann Fink in 1984. She died as a result of an auto accident in 2003. Gayl was a member of Faith United Church of Christ in Tripoli for 20 years, and a member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Fredericksburg, where he was baptized and confirmed. He is survived by his brother, Jerry (Georgia) Gitch of Sumner; two children, Stephen Gitch of Lake Pleasant, AZ; Renee (Chuck) Smith of Phoenix, AZ; four grandchidren; 10 great-grandchildren; step children, Terri (Glenn) Meier and Jerelyn (Brent) Steere, both of Waverly, David (Deb) Fink of Denver, Mary (John) Gorh of Rockwell, and Lynne (John) Rasmussen of Manchester; 15 step grandchildren; 23 step great-grandchildren; one step great-great-grandchild. Gayl was preceded in death by his wife, Ruth; his parents, Alvin and Beth Gitch; a brother, James Gitch; daughter-in-law, Marlyne Barker and her husband, Garth Barker.