Gail Ainslie Rippel

September 8, 1935 ~ June 13, 2021

Gail Ainslie Rippel, 85, passed away on June 13, 2021 in Denham Springs, Louisiana.  Born September 8, 1935 in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, she gained her tenacity and strength early on, even living in a tent temporarily during the Great Depression.  Gail lived an adventurous life.  As a young girl, she was a Girl Guide and summered with relatives in the Georgian Bay area where she was never intimidated by the cold water and always insisted on jumping right in!  Gail graduated from Kennedy Collegiate Institute, and as a young adult, worked for CN Railways, TWA and United Airlines.  She often traveled from Canada into Detroit with her sister Joan for dresses and fabric and lived in New York City for a time.  Gail met the love of her life, Dr. James Rippel, while living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  After marrying, they eventually settled down and started a family in Denham Springs, Louisiana in November of 1963.  Gail began managing their rental properties as well as their Chiropractic office.  She made these challenging jobs look easy; indeed, she never retired.  Gail also worked at Malcolm Travel in Baton Rouge.  She not only enjoyed working in the travel industry, Gail was an avid traveler.  She traveled extensively in the US and Canada as well as England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Belgium, Italy, Germany, and Austria.  She was a longtime member of First United Methodist Church of Denham Springs and used her free time to volunteer at their Food Bank.  Gail loved to garden and was a member of the Denham Springs Garden Club.  She shared her love of gardening with her sister, Joan, with whom she has always remained close. Gail and Joan enjoyed being with each other and whenever they were together, there was always a lot of laughter. Gail’s most precious past time was spending time with her children and grandchildren.  There was always time to play hide and seek (as to which she was rarely victorious), board games, cards, chess and to work on a puzzle.  She never missed an opportunity to spend time with family.  Gail was preceded in death by her husband, James Rippel, father John Ainslie, stepfather and mother Karl and Dorothy (Grayson) Kellington, and infant twins, Daniel and Samuel Rippel.  She is survived by her son, David, his wife Laura, and their two children – Benjamin and Caroline, all of Plano, Texas; her son Brian, his wife Nancy, and their two children – Chloe and Eva, all of Spotsylvania, Virginia; her son Jeffrey, his wife Krista, and their two children – Andrew and William, all of Denham Springs, Louisiana.  She is also survived by her sister, Joan Long of Prairieville, Louisiana, her sister-in-law, Gertrude Urban of Orlando, Florida and many loving cousins, nieces and nephews throughout the United States.  A Celebration of Life Memorial Service will be held at First United Methodist Church in Denham Springs on July 3, 2021 from 10 am – 12 noon.  In lieu of flowers, donation may be made to First United Methodist Church of Denham Springs, their Food Bank, or St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Please sign the online guestbook at