Gail Elizabeth Rockwell Nami

Gail resided happily in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi with her honeybees and flock of chickens.

She belonged to Christ Episcopal Church in Bay St. Louis, MS, and was a member of the American Legion Auxiliary.

As a teen in Michigan, and the oldest of six children, she enjoyed hunting with her father and was a highly skilled archer.

Throughout her life she enjoyed a multitude of tranquil and creative activities. She sewed clothing, costumes, stuffed animals, and quilts using her own hand-dyed fabrics. She enjoyed the arts of batik, crochet, knitting, watercolors, and played piano. She loved outdoor activities including camping, wade fishing, floundering, crabbing on the seawall, and bicycling trails. She loved to scuba and snorkel in the beautiful waters of Florida and Mexico. She was an avid reader and enjoyed the art of letter writing. She loved spending time with her family and cooking signature dishes such as BBQ shrimp, stuffed grape leaves, brisket, oysters rockefeller, trout almondine, and her famous german chocolate cake and pecan pralines. Her last years were spent tending to her chickens and honeybees, sharing the eggs and honey with family and friends. She loved to share that she was a "flower child" of the 60s.

Gail was preceded by her beloved husband, protector, and soul mate of 52 years, Philip J. Nami, Jr., mother; Patricia E. Spence, father; Lawrence E. "Rocky" Rockwell; sister, Roberta Barrett and  stepsons, George Michael Nami, Sr., and Philip J. Nami, III.

Gail is survived by her daughter, Noel Nadine Nami Allen (Charles Lizana); grandson, "Trey" Gerald E. Allen, III; brothers, Charles Rockwell and John Rockwell; sisters, Susan Baker and Patricia Rockwell (Gordon); Gail loved and cherished her stepsons, David K. Nami (Sharon) and their children Lyndsay, Jordan, Collin and Jesse; stepson, William A. Nami and his daughter Kelly; stepdaughter, Helen Jewel Massarini (Louis) and her children Lauren and Andrew; stepdaughter, Michele Harang (Allan) and her son Frank Von Hoven III; and step-grandson Michael Nami Jr.

Gail served many different titles and lived many different "chapters" of life. She said that she lived a full life doing all of the things she wanted to do. She was a secretary at NASA Michoud in New Orleans East in the 1960s and co-owner with her husband of Johnny White's Restaurant & Bar in the French Quarter in the 70s and 80s. During a brief retirement from the restaurant business in the early 1980s, she was a volunteer firefighter and EMT at the Diamondhead volunteer fire department, founder of the Hancock County Dive Rescue Squad as a divemaster and dive rescue specialist, and spent many days sewing, crafting, and gardening. In the 1980s, Gail and her husband Philip opened the First Precinct Restaurant & Lounge in Bay St. Louis where they sponsored open house holiday meals for anyone who needed a place to have a holiday dinner. She later became the medical officer for the Hancock County Sheriff's Office. During and after hurricane Katrina, she volunteered with emergency services in Bay St. Louis. Her latest occupation was bookkeeping for beloved friends Tom and Zoe Bowers, and for the family of Kathleen and Clayton Fucich, whose family she cherished as her own.

The family would like to thank Gail's nurses and doctors at Hancock Ochsner and Slidell Memorial ICU for their compassion and tender care of Gail. You make a difference.

The family would also like to thank dear friend Pamela SanFillippo for her encouragement, care, and support during Gail's illness; Angel and Donnie for granting a final, loving task of harvesting the honey from Gail's beehives; and countless friends who offered their support, love, and prayers.

In lieu of flowers, her family asks that donations be made to Ruth's Roots Community Garden- Please make checks payable to Hancock Community Development Foundation with "Ruth's Roots" on the memo line and mailed to Hancock County Chamber of Commerce: 100 S. Beach Blvd. Bay St. Louis, MS 39520 or Friends of the Animal Shelter in Hancock County: P.O. Box 2274 Bay St. Louis, MS 39521.

The family would like to bring awareness to lung cancer and to encourage smokers to please seek a smoking cessation program.

A Prayer Service will be held Saturday, September 3, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. at Christ Episcopal Church in Bay St. Louis, MS.