Beverly Gail (McGary) McCollough

Beverly Gail McCollough, a beloved wife, mother, friend, and neighbor to many, passed away peacefully on Saturday, June 17, 2023, in Chapel Hill, NC. She was born on November 29, 1935, in St. Louis, Missouri, to Luther Phillips McGary and Verda Mary Williams McGary.  Her parents then settled in Houston, Texas when she was very young. While she was their only child, she cherished the friendship of many dear cousins. She was a graduate of Reagan Highschool in Houston, and Baylor University where she majored in history and education, and returned to Houston, where she taught fourth grade.

On February 15, 1958, Gail married Milton Byron McCollough, a Baylor graduate and attorney, at Baptist Temple, the church where they both grew up. They settled in Houston to raise their
family, followed by retirement years in North Carolina.

Gail loved family gatherings. It could be a rainy day in a National Park, but she joyfully reminded everyone that “the most important thing is that we are together.”  She loved music and was blessed with a beautiful soprano voice that she shared in the BRH choir at Baylor, the St. Philip Presbyterian Church choir, the Houston Symphony Chorale, the Tuesday Music Club, the Maginnisingers, and the Classics, singing everything from Bach and Britten to Bacharach and the Beatles and everywhere from Paris, Texas to Paris, France.  She shared her love of music with children as a docent with the Houston Grand Opera. She loved her home state of Texas and was a lifelong student of history, serving as a docent at the Houston Heritage Society. She loved bluebonnets, azaleas, and amaryllises, traveling and entertaining, and making new friends everywhere she went.

She is survived by her husband, Milton and her children, Catherine Gail McCollough (Reginald Tuck), Phillip Byron McCollough (Kelley McCollough), and Karen Kay McCollough (Ian Graham); four grandchildren, Monica Tuck (Stephen Shashy), Nadia Tuck (Andrew Muth), Katherine McCollough, Gerald Friedrich, and three great grandchildren.

A celebration of Gail’s life will be held at Chapel in the Pines Presbyterian Church, 314 Great Ridge Pkwy, Chapel Hill, NC 27516, (www.citppc.org) on July 10, 2023 at 11:00 AM.  In lieu of flowers the family request that you send Memorial donations to:  "The Tuesday Music Club", Houston, Texas, and also Chapel in the Pines Presbyterian Church in memory of Gail McCollough. 

Donaldson Funeral Home & Crematory is honored to serve the McCollough family.