WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2025
1B
THE COASTLAND TIMES
SENIORLIVING A tribute to Gail Sonnesso A dedicated proponent of dementia care
By Danielle Puleo danielle.puleo@ thecoastlandtimes.com
Gail Sonnesso made a lasting impact on the Outer Banks community through her tireless dedication to provide dementia care and counseling, and ensuring no person she came across felt unworthy of love. She passed away February 7, 2025 at age 77. Gail had a gift for advocating for those labeled as disabled. She spent years organizing and leading a program for people affected by dementia. Throughout her career, she headed support groups, conferences and workshops and worked in collaboration with various community organizations to provide invaluable resources and services to those who had dementia, along with their loved ones and caretakers. Long before starting COURTESY PHOTO GEM Adult Day Services, Inc., Gail was working to Gail Sonnesso made a lasting impact on the Outer Banks bring people together. She community. and her husband Angelo her master’s degree from connecting and caring for started a summer camp East Carolina University the local community. Upfor the children who lived in rehabilitation counsel- on obtaining a grant for in Colington Harbour af- ing and vocational evalua- adult day services, the ter moving to the Outer tion, Gail knew she want- couple purchased a cotBanks. After obtaining ed to further her reach in tage in Kill Devil Hills
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and ran an adult respite care service from their home for 11 years. Despite the challenges Gail faced in continuing to provide adult care to their community, she never gave up. From carrying all her things from church to church to establishing a one day per week respite program at Kitty Hawk Methodist Church, known as Harmony Café, Gail made it her mission to make sure no one was forgotten. “It was more than just a job to her, it was a passion,” Angelo shared with The Coastland Times. “She always worked with people with disabilities. She looked at them as kind of forgotten people. And it’s true, even if you look at family sometimes … they stop thinking that a person is a person. Especially someone with dementia. Yeah, their memory may be gone and certainly the judgment has got to be questioned, but that intelligence is still there. Just because that person can’t remember you name doesn’t mean that they forget the emotional attachment they have to you. Gail always knew that.”
Whether it was 3 p.m. or 3 a.m., Gail was there to answer a call from those who needed her. Angelo said she would receive calls from police officers and hospital social workers, all seeking her advice in regard to someone who was dealing with dementia. “She was constantly studying and keeping up with the latest in the field,” he added. Gail always felt it was better for people to function in groups, no matter their situation, than in isolation. Hence why she was always available, and always wanting to be those she worked with. Her husband explained that they were never just clients to his wife, but family. Even when Gail herself was sick, she would want to be at the GEM programs. Angelo would bring her, oxygen, portable concentrator and all. “She would pull herself together and talk with everyone,” her husband shared. “Sometimes, we would spend hours with people, getting past the distress and getting them on track to solve the problems they were facing. That’s what spurs me on. She was going so strong,
so I’m not going to give up.” Gail’s tenacity and passion extended far beyond her work with GEM. As an active member of the First Flight Lions Club and president of the Nags Head Lions Club in 2017 and 2017, she fought for the betterment of her community. She also served as a charter member of the Healthy Carolinians Task Force and sat on the Dare County Nursing Home Advisory Board and Elder Abuse Committee. Her contributions to dementia care were recognized by the Dare County Board of Commissioners in 2018, and she was nominated for and presented with the 2021 Governor’s Volunteer Service Award. Gail was a proponent of ridding the stigma around dementia, and making sure everyone felt seen. To her, dedicating her life to such a cause was an “act of love.” Angelo said her dream was to have the Outer Banks Dementia Friendly Coalition start another adult care day service. He intends to carry on his wife’s mission and continue to support her hard-fought cause.