Gail Morgan

The Gail Morgan I remember from high school had a smile that could light up the room.

The Gail Morgan I recently met with the Amen Corners Gang has that same smile and same happy attitude toward everything she does.

Gail graduated High School without much hope of going on to college.  The family finances just were not there.  Instead she began working for a year until she found out about a program sponsored by the Catholic Church which would help pay some college expenses in exchange for a guarantee to give a certain amount of time teaching in the Catholic Schools.

Gail enrolled in this program in 1961 and began college at YSU.  In those days the catholic schools accepted teachers without a full 4 year degree.  Gail quickly began teaching at St Pius in Warren.

“The rules in those days was you could not have a boy friend or be married,” Gail says.  She told the church what they wanted to hear and began her teaching career.  In the meantime she had met Bill Castle of Liberty Township.    By the end of the first year of teaching in the Catholic schools, Gail decided to get married.  This cut short her teaching in the Catholic School System.

She continued on to work toward her full degree and in 1971 was awarded a BA in Education from YSU. 

Gail turned to the public schools and began teaching at Fowler elementary.  She and Bill were living in Howland at the time.  Bill had a passion to be a “gentleman farmer,” bought a farm in Cortland and soon the couple moved to the farm with their two children, Bill and Tracy.

“Our home was like Old MacDonald’s Farm,” Gail says.  “We had everything you could think of on the farm from geese and ducks to goats, cattle and Belgium Horses.  Bill lease out some acreage to local farmers who grew soybeans and corn.  

The duties of a farmer’s wife and being the mother of two growing children, Bill and Tracy, made Gail realize that she had better dedicate herself full time to these two objectives. 

She took a sabbatical from teaching until the kids were grown up.  Then she returned years later as a substitute teacher specializing in handicap and disadvantaged children.  She did this for the next 10 years.

Gail and Bill have had a fantastic 46 years together.  Early on they got interested in motorcycles and bought one.  For the next 30 year they would do motorcycle weekend trips with the occasional long trip.  They went as far West as North Dakota and as far East as New Jersey.  “Sitting on a motorcycle for 8 hours is something everyone should be forced to experience,” Gail says.

Travel became a big thing in the Castle household and they soon found themselves renting a motorhome in Alaska and doing a 3 week exploration of the 49^th State.   “It was great fun,” Gail says.  “Bill would pull up next to a creek and visit with other campers who taught him how to smoke salmon or what baits to use etc.”

They enjoyed it so much that they have purchased a camper of their own and use it quite often.

European travel has also become part of the Castle activity.   They have visited Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Monte Carlo, France, Italy.

Gail’s most recent trip was in early May when she went to Barcelona Spain for a few days and then boarded a ship which took them to France, Monaco, and Italy.  “I loved Italy,” she says.  “Rome, Pompey and Florence were spectacular.”

The return to the USA was quite an adventure due to the Icelandic Volcano.  “We had to fly to Norway to refuel, and then go over Northern Greenland to avoid the volcanic ash cloud,” she explains.  “This was a 14 hour return and we missed our connection to Cleveland.  We had to stay overnight in Newark.”

Travel and taking care of grandchildren whenever the opportunity presents itself keeps the Castle’s very busy.

The Castles are currently toying with the idea of spending a few months each year in Phoenix AZ near some relatives who live there.

For Gail and Bill Castle, life has been quite a good ride.  Gail says “You get out of life what you put into it.”