Gale Owen Holt

Gale Ann Owen Holt (August 11, 1952 – August 27, 2024)

Gale Ann Owen Holt, 72, of Martinsburg, West Virginia passed away peacefully on Tuesday, August 27, 2024, at University of Maryland Medical Center. She was surrounded by family in her final hours.

A family friend, Brad Miller, said of Gale, “She was truly one of the purest souls I have ever known. It was an honor sharing existence with her.” Born in Duncan, Oklahoma in 1952 to parents Lester and Iris (Erwin) Owen, Gale spent her early childhood in Comanche, Oklahoma roaming her parents’ farm with her border collie, Laddie, and developing her inimitable writer’s imagination.

In 1974, Gale married the love of her life, Jim Holt. A devoted pastor’s wife and shepherd in her own right, Gale lived with Jim in many places where they both loved and served their communities. In Montana, Maryland, Kenya, and West Virginia, Gale touched the lives of many. With a gentle but firm spirit and a way with words, she celebrated, comforted, laughed with, and loved countless friends and family members. She had a deep love of singing and generously shared her beautiful voice with so many over the years.

With an insatiable curiosity and deep appreciation of nature, Gale loved to travel and often photographed her adventures along the way. She especially loved the time she spent in Kenya, teaching and traveling with Jim. She enjoyed painting, making jewelry, gardening, birdwatching, and reading. Everywhere she went, Gale left in her wake a trail of books she was reading. She was a devoted dog-mom to Lily Blessing and Ali Valkyrie and most of all, she loved spending time with her young granddaughters. No holiday gatherings were complete without her pumpkin bread pudding and at least three puns.

Gale graduated from North Texas State University with a bachelor’s degree in English and Seton Hill University with a master’s degree in writing popular fiction. Deeply committed to educating and mentoring young people, Gale taught middle and high school English for many years at Hedgesville Middle School, Martinsburg High School, Apple Valley High School, Musselman High School, and Rift Valley Academy. A born storyteller and gifted writer, Gale published her young adult fiction book, A Thing of Beauty, in 2019 and was in the process of writing a sequel, Grateful for Blue. She also maintained her own website and publishing company, Sweet Annie Tales.

Gale is predeceased by her mother, father, and daughter, Joanna. She leaves behind her loving husband and very best friend, Jim Holt; two children, Ezekiel Holt and wife Sara Moore of Salem, Massachusetts, and Juniper Holt and wife Elizabeth of Sunderland, Massachusetts; three granddaughters, Emerson Louise, Rosalie Owen, and Thora Anneliese; sister, Carol (Owen) Myers and husband Robert M. Myers of Pompano Beach, Florida; beloved in-law family, including Stephen and Wendy Holt of Miamisburg, Ohio, Mary Holt of Bowie, Maryland, and Robert Holt of Riva MD, Maryland; and, many loving nieces and nephews. In 2020, Gale was lovingly gifted a lifesaving kidney from her nephew, Alan Myers, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

A celebration of life will be held on Saturday, September 28 at Brown Funeral Homes South Berkeley Chapel, 287 Arden Nolville Road, Inwood, West Virginia. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a gift to one of Gale’s favorite charities, Polycystic Kidney Disease Foundation, PO Box 871847, Kansas City, MO 64187 or www.pkdcure.org; Wounded Warrior Project, 4899 Belfort Road Suite 300, Jacksonville, FL 32256 or www.woundedwarriorproject.org; or Summit Point Baptist Church, PO Box 125, Summit Point, WV 25446. For more information or an online guestbook, please visit www.beallfuneral.com.