Gayle Franklin Brewer

Gayle Brewer, age 86, passed away peacefully at home in Yakima July 6.

Born June 1, 1938, in Wellington, Texas, to Joe Russell and Willie Marie Brewer, Gayle’s family relocated to Orange County in Southern California during his early childhood, where he graduated from Santa Ana High School in 1956.

Gayle went on to graduate magna cum laude from Chapman College in Orange, California, in 1960 with a BA in philosophy. At Chapman, he distinguished himself as class president and participated in junior varsity basketball, varsity track, and tennis.

In 2000, Gayle was inducted into the Chapman Athletics Hall of Fame.

During his senior year at Chapman, he decided to pursue a career in medicine, which led him to complete two additional years of pre-med science classes at UC Riverside by 1962. Gayle subsequently enrolled in the UCLA School of Medicine, where he served as class president during his junior year and participated in the honor council for two years. He successfully completed his medical degree in 1966.

He married Penny Moolenijzer in 1962, and together they had a son, David, in 1967, and a daughter, Leslie, in 1969, who died in infancy. In 1970, they adopted Amy Marie.

Gayle moved to Yakima in 1971 to begin private practice in internal medicine and nuclear medicine in partnership with Dr. James Dodge. He served one year as medical staff president (1983) at St. Elizabeth Hospital, one year as program chair of the Yakima County Medical Society, and two years as president of the NW Society of Nuclear Medicine. His expertise led him to serve as a consultant and physician examiner for the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center during the federally mandated Hanford Thyroid Disease Study in the 1990s.

Gayle and Shirley married in 1991 and lived in Yakima until he retired from medical practice in 2006. They then moved to Longbranch, where they built a new home and made many wonderful and close friends. They became active in the Longbranch Improvement Club, with Gayle serving as president from 2012 to 2015.

Survivors include his wife of 33 years, Shirley Brewer; sisters Beverly (Dick) Steinmetz and Teresa (David) Sjule; son David (Tina) Brewer; daughter Amy Brewer; stepchildren Erik Haws and Angela (Brian) Oakley; nephews Paul Engel and Danny Sjule; niece Sarah Laidler; five beloved grandchildren; and numerous cousins.

A memorial service was held at Keith & Keith Funeral Home July 29. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Memorial Foundation Hospice Care Program or the Cowiche Canyon Conservancy.