Obituary
The daughter of Benjamin and Anne (Grossman) Farber, she was born July 3, 1941 in Chicago and resided her entire life in the Chicagoland area.
Gail was a graduate of Northwestern University with a B.A. in English and American Literature and with a Minor in Spanish and Northeastern Illinois University with a M.A. in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. Gail began her teaching career at the Chicago Public Schools teaching High School English and Spanish. After receiving her Master’s Degree, she held various teaching positions for over 25 years, including being a professor at Oakton Community College. She enjoyed teaching students from all over the world and loved hosting parties at her home for her students where her family was exposed to many interesting cuisines and cultures.
Gail was a life-long learner, enjoyed attending book clubs and discussions, taking adult education classes, watching movies, going to the theater, and participating in Hadassah. She was a volunteer in programs at her children’s schools and was civically engaged. She became an Adult Bat Mitzvah at age 71 and loved hosting family and friends for holidays and other types of celebrations. She loved to travel both domestically and internationally, particularly to visit her family in Texas. Gail always had a flair for assembling vibrant outfits with beautiful jewelry to match. Gail was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, aunt, sister, and daughter and cherished her time with her family and friends. She will be greatly missed.
She is survived by her daughters Kimberly Miller and Laura (Miller) Guttman and son-in-law Michael Guttman; grandchildren Alyssa Guttman and Russell Guttman; sister and brother-in-law Linda and Alan Efrussy; brother-in-law and sister-in-law Alan and Ann Miller; and nephews Joel Efrussy (Jasmine) and Ken Miller (Anne) and nieces Jill (Efrussy) Sour (Chad Sour), Sheri Lurie (Steve), and Paula Miller (Ed). She is also survived by many grand-nieces and nephews, including Jack Efrussy, Julia Efrussy, Rick Lurie, Scott Lurie, Matthew Miller, Melissa Miller, Lindsay Kagin, Danielle Flaumenhaft, and Sam Miller; and many lifelong, dear friends, including Gail (Golden) Cohen, Sara Lee Price, and many other Hadassah friends.
Gail was preceded in death by her beloved husband of 62 years, Michael; her parents, her in-laws, many aunts and uncles, and her dear friend Roz Al-Aswad.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hadassah-North Boundary, https://www.hadassah.org/donate, WTTW (PBS), https://www.wttw.com/support, American Writer’s Museum, https://americanwritersmuseum.org/join-give/ or a charity of your choice.
Chapel service Thursday, August 7, 2025, at 2:30 p.m. at Shalom Memorial Funeral Home, 1700 W. Rand Road, Arlington Heights. Interment for immediate family following service at Shalom Memorial Park. For information, including a link to view the service online, Shiva, and to leave condolences, www.shalommemorial.org or (847) 255-3520.
Service Information
Service : Thursday, August 7th at 2:30 pm
Service Location: Shalom Chapel Service -Shalom Memorial Funeral Home
Interment:
Shalom Memorial Park
1700 W. Rand Road
Arlington Heights
Guest Book & Memories
Share your memories and photographs below.
February 22nd, 2026
Gail and I had a close bond in the poetry group. When she fell ill, I asked whether she would like me to visit her and read some poetry to her. She asked me to collect some poems for her so that she could read them at her leisure. I did so, and, near her end, she even wrote a little note to me telling me how much the poems meant to her.
~Doreen Feitelberg
~Gail was a loved and respected member of the the Poetry For Pleasure group at Olli of which I am a coordinator. She was always engaged in offering her viewpoints and enjoyed choosing her favorite poets for the discussions. We will miss her.,
Guest Book and Memories
Memorial Yahrzeit Request
You will receive an annual yahrzeit reminder and the associated prayers in an email year.
"*" indicates required fields