The Norton Home Estates resident finally fell victim to cancer after having fought the disease for just under a year.
“She was a very special person,” said her daughter, Lesley-Ann Toontas.
“She was always putting others before herself, but she was also fun and a joy to be around.
“She always carted around all the friends and sports teams from school to anywhere they needed to be, in her Combi.
“She was the socialite of Benoni, was friends with everyone and always took time to chat with people, even if it was in the middle of Pick n Pay Oakfields.
“She loved her children and husband with all her heart and would do anything for them at any hour of the day.”
Lesley-Ann said her mother was one of the first female Rotary Club presidents, having been president of both the Benoni Rotary Anns Club and Benoni Rotary Club.
She was the counselling director of LifeLine Benoni and served on the Parent, Teacher associations of Ashton International College, Ashbury Private School, Kathstan College and Tom Newby School.
She was also a teacher at Rynfield Primary School for approximately four years and one of the founders of Norah’s School, in Petit.
Through Rotary, she did fund-raising for the SPCA, Hospice and the Salvation Army.
“She also taught English at a school in Daveyton, with a group of women who were called ‘The Gogos’,” said Lesley-Ann.
Gail assisted with the Toy Run every year and arranged a Christmas party for underprivileged children alongside Rotary.
She is survived by her husband, Demi, and her three children, Craig, Brendon and Lesley-Ann Toontas, her mother, Denise Foster and her two brothers, Billy and Keith Foster.
The funeral was held on Friday, October 7, at Maranatha Community Church.
“It was a beautiful service, which she helped plan before she passed away,” said Lesley-Ann.
“It was a very big service, which is a testament to how loved and how special she was.”
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