Gaye J. Reiser

Funeral Services for Gaye J. Reiser, 57 of Moline, will be 10:30 AM on Monday at Speer Funeral Home, Aledo. Burial will be in Aledo Cemetery. Visitation is Sunday from 2-4 & 6-8 PM at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Macklig Strom S.V. Dog Club or to the Gaye Reiser Nursing Scholarship Fund. Gaye died on Thursday, July 12, 2007 at her home in Moline. Gaye Joette Reiser was born in Aledo, Illinois on June 26, 1950 the daughter of M. Joe and Shirley (Breedlove) Reiser. Gaye was a 1968 graduate of Aledo High School. After Graduation she attended Knox College, transferring to Monmouth College and graduating in 1972 with a degree in Music. She taught music for three years. At this time she returned to school, receiving her nursing degree from Moline Public Hospital School of Nursing. She was employed at Moline Public Hospital Intensive Care Unit. When her father was diagnosed with cancer in 1980, she returned home to help with his care and also facilitate the family business, Reiser Funeral Home. Before his death her father asked her to return to college to get her BSN degree. Gaye entered Marycrest International University, completing her BSN degree in 1983. Gaye was employed with St. Luke’s Hospital in the critical care unit until the hospital merger, creating Genesis Medical Center. She was a critical care open heart nurse with Genesis for 12 years. During this time she was diagnosed with Lupus, ending her career in the open heart unit. She then became a rehabilitation nurse. With her expertise in open heart nursing she was a guest lecturer at St. Ambrose University in their physical therapy classes. She continued in the field of physical therapy and rehabilitation for open heart patients for 3 years, until returning to school for her masters. In 2004 she entered a new program, Forensic Nursing, and was working on her masters from the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs at the time of her death. Gaye was a member of: SAI, Honor Music Sorority; Sigma Theta Tau, International Honor Society of Nursing; Who’s Who honors for outstanding nursing; Macklig Strom S. V. Dog Club; Order of the Eastern Star, Chapter #126, Aledo; and a member of the First Baptist Church of Aledo, where she enjoyed playing the piano, prior to moving to Moline. Gaye also had a great love for her animals. She also was concerned for her mother, because she was supposed to be caring for her mother, not her mother caring for her. Gaye is survived by her mother, Shirley Reiser of Aledo and a cousin Rebecca (Richard) Fairchild of Orangeburg, SC. She was preceded in death by her father and grandparents.