Gayle Williams Boag - Obituary

Gayle Williams Boag (July 31, 1953-January 24, 2026) was born and raised in Philadelphia, the eldest of five, to Jean (Weltin) Williams and Kenneth Rich Howard Williams Jr.  She grew up in the Mt. Airy neighborhood studying ballet with her mother and eventually on scholarship with George Balanchine at the American School of Ballet in New York City at a very young age. She attended Cecilian Academy and Germantown High School. She was very active with her mother's dance company, Germantown Dance Theatre and with LaSalle Summer Music Theatre. In 1980 Gayle joined her sister with The Tommy Finnan International Touring Company and danced around the world for two years to Japan, Portugal, Madeira and eventually Greece, where she stayed, got married (Alexis Koskoris) and had a son (Kenneth Constandinos Koskoris).  She worked with renowned Greek choreographer Fotis Metaxopolis and choreographed her own group as well, performing around Athens. She returned to the US in 1986 to raise her son where she continued to dance and perform in theater. She met and married Terry Boag, a co-worker, and bought a house in Roxborough. She was a dedicated employee of Shop Rite (a Brown franchise) for over 25 years and was a union steward for the latter part of her career. She retired with Terry, her dogs Chrissy and Pabst to Pittsgrove, New Jersey where she passed away peacefully. She is survived by husband Terry, her son Kenneth (Jordan), grandaughter Athena, siblings Kim (Robert), Pamela (d. Michael), Scott (Marty), Ken (d. Sharon), David (Karen), nephews and nieces Daniel (Bridget), Brian (Garineh), Alexandra, Reilly (Sarah), Tim (Jen), Theresa (Greg), Hunter and four great nephews/nieces Lacy, Brennen, Ryane and Sean. A memorial will be held for family and friends in March.