Gayle Chorske, 73

Gayle Osterberg Chorske, 73, died peacefully at home in Woodstock, Vermont on Saturday, March 6, 2010 after battling cancer with courage and dignity.

She was born to Bennie and Margaret Myers Osterberg on June 2, 1936 in Alexandria.

Gayle was an alumna of Alexandria High School, class of 1954, and the University of Minnesota, class of 1958. She was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority. Gayle became a stewardess for Pan American Airways based in Miami and San Francisco. While with Pan Am, she traveled extensively to South America and the Orient. Her experience with Pan Am kindled an appetite for world travel that never left her.

While living in San Francisco, she met her future husband, William W. Chorske, who was born and raised in Minneapolis and graduated in 1959 from the University of Minnesota. Bill and Gayle were married in 1963 in Alexandria.

Bill survives her as do their three children, Anne C. Stuzin of Baltimore, MD, Matthew J. Chorske of Littleton, CO and Michael W. Chorske of New York City. She leaves seven grandchildren, and beloved niece and nephew, Elizabeth C. Jensen and Thomas P. Chorske, both of Edina. She is survived by three brothers, Robert Osterberg, Duluth, Steven Osterberg and Charles Osterberg, both of Grand Rapids.

Gayle loved food and was an enthusiastic, accomplished home cook. She was a former president of The Woodstock Garden Club and knew every flower by name in her carefully tended gardens. She delighted in music, books, chocolate, the scent of lavender, all things Italian, her many close friends, and her beloved family.

A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Church in Woodstock, VT on Friday, March 12.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Gayle’s memory to the Gayle Chorske Memorial Fund, c/o The Gayle and William Chorske Family Foundation, 198 Garvin Hill Road, Woodstock, VT 05091.

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