It’s with a heavy heart that I must inform you that Gail McDaniel passed away this morning, October 12th at 3:00am.
Gail began her career at Selby Gardens as a volunteer. With her great enthusiasm for tropical plants, she was hired May 25th, 1994 on the Grounds staff. As her skills advanced, she was moved to the Greenhouse collections, where she worked skillfully with a wide variety of epiphytes and other tropical plants, including bromeliads, gesneriads, ferns, aroids, and carnivorous plants. A former book-keeper and interior-scaper, she was in her element in her greenhouses.
She was an extremely thoughtful person, and an avid animal lover. She survived a bout with breast cancer in 2006-2007. A few weeks ago she came down with pneumonia, and was moved to the Sarasota Memorial Hospital intensive care unit late last week.
Gail touched many lives during her 15+ years at Selby Gardens. She will be deeply missed by so many.
~ Thomas Buchter
