Rev. Gailya Ruth Dow

Rev. Gailya R. Dow, 78, of Fort Mill, died Friday, May 19, 2017 at the Wayne T. Patrick Hospice House in Rock Hill.A memorial service will be at 4 p.m. Wednesday, May 31, 2017 at St. John’s United Methodist Church, with the Rev. Karen H. Radcliffe officiating. The family will receive friends following the service.Born in Henderson, Texas, Rev. Dow was a daughter of the late F.L. Lemley and Margaret Elizabeth Webster Lemley. She was a social worker, then mother, church secretary and became a minister. Rev. Dow received her Masters Degree of Divinity at St. Paul’s School of Theology in Kansas City, Missouri. She retired from ministry in 2004 and was a member of United Methodist Conference of Missouri. Rev. Dow moved to Fort Mill in 2009 and attended St. John’s United Methodist Church. She was known as a positive, caring person and for wit, love of family, church and animals and enjoyed reading.Surviving are her son, Nathan Dow and his wife, Kristin of Broomfield, Colo.; her daughter, Melinda “Minda” Siebert and her husband, Steve of Fort Mill; and three grandchildren, Jason and Jacob Siebert, both of Fort Mill and Chelsea Dow of Broomfield, Colo. She was preceded in death by her husband, Paul F. Dow; and her sister, Norma Lemley.Memorials may be made to your local church or humane society.Read Obituary