Gail Sue McDougle

The Reverend Gail Sue McDougle, 80, passed from this life on October 11, 2025, in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, after a series of strokes and several months in a skilled nursing facility. Her final days were calm and quiet, and she was in no pain.

Gail was born in Houston, Texas, to Milam Clinton McDougle and Opal (Thomas) McDougle. She attended Sam Houston High School, where she was head cheerleader and a champion debater. She then attended the University of Texas at Austin, where she triple-majored in English, political science, and American history. A member of the UT Orange Jackets, she was active in the Austin faith community at a time when women were to be seen and not heard. She figured out a workaround, organizing biblical seminars and finding male spokesmen to deliver the message. She taught Bible study to local high school girls, playing the role of sage older sister – a role she would carry into her ministry.

Like many baby boomers, she was drawn to the peace and justice movement by the horrors of the Vietnam War and the hope for a better world. Unlike many baby boomers, she stayed there the rest of her life. And she never lost that hope. This commitment to peace and justice would inform her life’s work.

Having set her eyes on being a surgeon until she was told she was too short for operating tables – Gail was a spritely 4’11” at her tallest – she found her life’s calling after moving to Paris, following a short stint teaching high school English in Trenton, New Jersey. She arrived in Paris to find the city cloaked in black to honor the passing of Charles de Gaulle.

While in France, she began working at the American Church of Paris and realized the church could be a powerful platform for social justice. It was in Paris that she honed her cooking skills, augmenting her Southern staples with French delicacies. The woman had game. Though no one kept score, the number of people who turned down her dinner invites over the years is still hovering near zero. Her Texas twang subsided but would still pop out when she was surrounded by her extended family.

Upon her return to the United States, she earned a master’s degree from Princeton Theological Seminary and met Craig Hendrix, her later husband and the father of her two sons. She was ordained into the United Church of Christ (UCC) soon after. Her theological education left an indelible mark. Decades later, she would name her mini-Schnauzer Brueggemann, after her favorite theologian, Walter Brueggemann.

Gail’s ministry took her from the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia to the Willamette Valley of Oregon, with stops in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and Fresno, California, along the way. She was a formidable advocate for immigrant rights, environmental and social justice, and a strong proponent of the UCC’s Open and Affirming movement. From the pulpit and via pastoral care, Gail touched thousands of lives and families with her grace, steadfastness in difficult times, and wise insights.

She was especially committed to interfaith initiatives, informed by her belief that God is larger than any single tradition’s understanding of God’s love and power. She was an anti-racist and an anti-fascist and offered no quarter – that’s God’s lane – to those who were not. She sought out the overlooked and under-loved and centered their experiences in the life of the church. She was especially mindful of the children in her flock, and in her final weeks and days heard from many of the now-grown children whose lives she enriched.

Being the rock for so many took its toll in ways large and small. Gail carried a lot of stress and heartache for a lot of people, including herself. She was known to all but truly known by few, a challenge common to faith leaders. She was serially unlucky in love, having been married four times. But she never closed her heart to it.

Gail retired abruptly following a stroke in 2011, resettling briefly in Port St. Lucie, Florida, before spending the rest of her life in Colorado. Gail lived a joyful and engaged retirement, spending her time volunteering, serving the UCC’s Rocky Mountain Conference, painting (a hobby put down and returned to after many decades), cooking, and watching her grandchildren grow. She especially enjoyed her road trips with her sister, Pat, and brother-in-law, Jim. Even in retirement, one of her great loves was educating new church members about the history of the UCC: its theology, evolution, and values.

She is survived by her beloved sons, Cullen and Jason Hendrix; daughters-in-law, Sarah Glaser and Rebecca Hendrix; adored granddaughters, Lena, Echo, and Nova Hendrix; sister, Pat Talbert; brother-in-law, Jim Talbert; and their family.

Gail’s memorial service will be held on November 8 at 10:00 a.m. at First Congregational United Church of Christ, 1128 Pine St, Boulder, CO 80302. The service will be livestreamed, with details to follow. The family will receive friends following the service at a reception with light refreshments. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the American Indian College Fund (AICF) — collegefund.org.