Gayle Elaine Thompson

Gayle Elaine (Neemann) Schaefer-Thompson, age 71, of Mesa, Arizona, passed away on June 4,2026 at her home.

Gayle was born to Edwin and Alice (Weichman) Neemann on February 16,1955 in Lincoln, Nebraska. She moved to Arizona her senior year to finish high school as a Mesa High School Jackrabbit and then to marry her first husband at the age of 17. She had two sons and later adopted two daughters and also had a bonus daughter she helped raise.

Throughout her life, she was her sons Pee Wee baseball coach, a nurse's aide for several years, a mud bog driver, a Mesa Tribune deliverer for almost 20 years, and an animal lover of ALL kinds.

Memories of teaching her sons how to sew, cook and clean so that they would be self-sufficient will always be remembered. There are also fond memories of her baking hundreds of cinnamon rolls for events and making prickly pear jelly with the kids. As well as stuffing hundreds of Easter baskets for the local Moose Lodge she was a member of.

Gayle is preceded in death by her parents, sister Glenda Wynn and two nieces. She is survived by her brothers Gary and Greg Neemann; a sister Gloria; all of Nebraska; her two sons Michael (Patricia) Schaefer and James Schaefer; daughters Holly and Cheyenne Thompson and Kay Smith; 19 grandchildren; 2 great-grandchildren; many nieces and nephews.

Gayle has been cremated and will later be returned back home to Nebraska. There will be no services.