Gayle S Kneifl

Gayle S. Kneifl, 92 of Newcastle, NE passed away on Sunday, April 30, 2017 at a Sioux City hospital after a brief illness.

The funeral service will be at 10:30 A.M. Thursday at St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Newcastle, NE. Rev. Andrew Sohm will officiate. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery in Newcastle. Visitation with the family will begin at 5:00 P.M. Wednesday with a Wake Service at 7:00 P.M. Wednesday at the Parish Hall. Arrangements are under the direction of Meyer Brothers Colonial Chapel in Sioux City. Online condolences may be sent to www.meyerbroschapels.com.

Gayle was born August 18, 1924 in Newcastle, NE where she lived her entire life. She was the eldest of two children born to Otto and Elsie (Sorensen) Wendte. Gayle graduated from Newcastle High School. She married Mark D. Kneifl on November 16, 1943 in Newcastle.

Gayle was a homemaker and helped manage The Castle Bar that she and Mark purchased in 1947. In 1948, they purchased their house where they raised their three sons and where Gayle continued to live. Gayle was always active in her Church & community. She was a member of Sacred heart Sodality for 74 years serving in many capacities. She also taught CCD for many years. From 1974 through 1976, she served as president of the Omaha Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women (OACCW). One of her many highlights was attending the 41st International Eucharist Congress in Philadelphia in 1976 where she met St. John Paul II, St. Teresa of Calcutta and St. Dorothy Day. She received the OACCW Mullen Award in 1985. The annual award established in 1962 honors a woman of the OACCW who best exemplifies the life and service of the council’s third president, Mary Mullen. Gayle was also a long time member of the American Legion Auxiliary.

She would tell you her most important role was being a proud mom & grandma to their three sons, four grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren and so many others that called her “Grandma Gayle”. The other loves of her life would be Big Red football and volleyball, the Chicago Cubs and at 92 years of age she rarely missed a Wayne State Volleyball game watching on her computer. Anyone that knew her knows she never missed an opportunity to visit a casino.

Survivors include her 3 sons: Mark D. Kneifl and Diane of Scranton, IA. O. Doug Kneifl, Kirk C. and Denise Kneifl all of Newcastle, NE; four grandchildren and their spouses: Scott & Jen Kneifl of Wayne, NE, Kristen and Jason Dendinger of Hartington, NE, Brent and Shannon Kneifl of Sergeant Bluff, IA, Megan and Mike Sorenson of Newcastle, NE; eleven great grandchildren: Chase, Dylan & Turner Dendinger, Jacob, Brooks & Jaxson Kneifl, Addison Schrock, Schafer & Archer Kneifl and Duke and Oakley Sorenson. This list would be incomplete if we did not include her cousins and best friends Faye Marron and Anna Marie Pfister.

Gayle was preceded in death by her husband of 67 years, Mark D. Kneifl, her parents Otto & Elsie Wendte; her brother and sister in law Derwin and Miriam Wendte.