Lifelong Alaskan Gayle Janecek, 

60, died peacefully at her home Sept. 3, 2009, on Rainbow Lake, 
from lung cancer. A party in her honor will be at 3 p.m. Sept. 
27, 2009, at the Palmer Depot, 610 South Valley Way, Palmer. 
Memories and laughter are welcome, tears discouraged but 
optional. Food, drink, and tissues will be provided. She was born 
June 30, 1949, in Anchorage to Victor and Jean Paal. She 
graduated from West Anchorage High in 1967. The following summer 
she married her love and best friend, Michael Janecek. She 
attended the University of Alaska Anchorage, where she earned 
certification as a medical laboratory technician, using Michael 
as a pincushion while learning how to do blood draws. Gayle 
worked for Valley Hospital and opened their first lab and X-Ray 
facility in Wasilla. An eye for numbers and organization led her 
to a career change in the '80s, becoming the bookkeeper for 
Teeland's Moonshine Shop. After earning a degree in computer 
accounting from UAA, she worked as the accountant for ABC Travel 
Time until her cancer prevented it. A firm believer in the power 
of positive thinking, she preferred to "live to live, not live to 
die." She called this "Free Rabbit Living," a philosophy that 
brings smiles to her "team" of full-time caretakers, husband 
Michael, daughter Elle, and sister Joanie. Borrowing from words 
she heard early in her journey, Gayle lived with cancer until she 
didn't. Gayle loved learning and was a wonderful student of life. 
Her favorite pastime included a few good books and a long stay at 
their cabin in the woods near the Yentna River. Care for the 
environment was very important in her life, and she volunteered 
many hours in community cleanup and recycling efforts. She will 
be remembered for her warm smile, a mischievous twinkle in her 
eye, a fierce love for her family, and her quiet, reserved nature 
that epitomized the notion that still waters run deep. Gayle is 
survived by husband, Michael Janecek; daughter and son-in-law, 
Eleanor Janecek Delaney and Frank Delaney of Anchorage; mother, 
Jean Paal of Anchorage; sister, Charlotte Paal; sister and 
brother-in-law, Joan Paal-Fridley and David Fridley of Big Lake; 
and nieces, Meghan Fridley-Geiger of Chugiak, and Vanessa Fridley 
of Beavercreek, Ohio. In later years she was reunited with, and 
is survived by, her son given up through adoption, Don McKenzie. 
Through marriage she is survived by her mother-in-law, Catherine 
Jolly; sisters-in-law, Nancy Black and Catherine Call; nieces, 
Jackie Mouser, Amanda Black; and nephew Gary Lee Gipson, all of 
Soldotna. Gayle's "team" extends their heartfelt thanks to Dr. 
Larry Lawson of Midnight Sun Oncology for his caring, positive 
demeanor and skilled medical care, and to Sandy St. John for 
teaching us that while definitions of quality of life may change, 
none are less valued than another. Thank you both for making this 
an incredible journey. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made 
to Valley Community Recycling Solutions, PO Box 876464, Wasilla 
99687. 

Published in adn.com from September 20 to September 21, 2009