Giselle Marie Verlaque Guy

Giselle Marie Verlaque Guy was born November 19, 1956 in Madrid, Spain, one of five siblings and the only daughter of Jules Verlaque and Giselle Wilkes Verlaque.  Known as ‘Jill’ to her immediate family, she preferred to be known as Giselle. Hospitalized for the first several weeks of life in neo-natal intensive care, it was doubtful she would survive, and yet she prevailed, and embarked on a life marked by her indomitable zest for life, insatiable curiosity, and intellectual exploration. Raised in Europe, she lived the majority of her younger years in Spain and Italy, and travelled extensively to France, Greece, the Netherlands, among other countries in Europe. As a result, she developed a lifelong passion for art, history, fine food, music, cooking, culture, and reveled in exploring various cultures, languages and customs, and an international worldview. She became fluent in Spanish and Italian, and conversational French. She graduated with honors from high school at the American School of Madrid, in Madrid, Spain. She enrolled to study nursing and graduated from the Beebe School of Nursing in Lewes, Delaware, which she followed with a postgraduate degree in anesthesia, to become a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA). Her intellectual strength and passion for caring for her patients allowed her to quickly secure positions at regional hospitals.  She earned the respect and admiration of her colleagues and patients alike. It was on the job where she met her future husband, Ronald K. Guy, to whom she was administering anesthesia for a surgical procedure. This September would have marked their 30th wedding anniversary. A physicist and meteorologist, he would prove to be her intellectual match, although she would most certainly dispute that.

In her late 20's, Giselle was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, a disease that would be her nemesis to the end. Characteristically, she fought back, exploring traditional and non-traditional therapies and treatments, and refusing to let the disease limit her. Until the disease made it impossible for her to continue, she practiced as a nurse-anesthetist until 1994 dedicated to her calling, her patients and colleagues. Unable to have children as a result of her affliction, she channeled her energies into her extended family of nieces, nephews, and children of friends and caregivers, on hand to dispense advice (some would say direction), encouragement, and kindness, as well not infrequently, tuition. 

As a young girl she loved horses and riding, but was unable to pursue that as an adult. Not to be dissuaded, she poured her love of animals, particularly dogs, to rescue greyhounds, and whippets. Arriving at her doorstep, she nursed malnourished and abused dogs back to health, using her extensive medical knowledge, before they were adopted in loving, caring homes. Giselle and Ron opened their hearts and their home to these lucky canines, and they were actively involved with Philadelphia region greyhound rescue organizations, traveling in a specially outfitted van to accommodate a wheelchair for Giselle to sit and dogs to attend meetings for greyhounds. Not surprisingly, several very fortunate greyhounds ended up staying with Ron and Giselle, living out their lives in pampered affection and care.

Giselle had a remarkable sense of humor, often self-deprecating. It would stand her in good stead as she battled the inexorable progress of her illness. When she transitioned to a motorized wheelchair to get around, she often gave nieces and nephews rides up and down the driveway, or invited visitors to take it out for a spin. Maneuvering throughout the house in the wheelchair, she was able to cook and prepare meals, trying new recipes, baking, steaming, roasting, as if she were feeding an army. Frequently she would prepare meals she learned from her childhood in Spain, making enough to give visitors and caregivers a healthy portion to take home. Later bedridden, she nevertheless instructed her caregivers, friends and family in the preparation of meals and recipes, with explicit instructions and tips one did not dare deviate from. As a child, she and her family would spend summers at her grandparents home in Bethany Beach, Delaware, roaming the dunes and swimming the ocean, developing a love for the beach and the ocean she would keep her whole life. 

Always a voracious reader, she continued her passion for books and learning, and made constant use of her laptop to explore news stories, developments in science, medicine, cooking, architecture, politics, culture, and archaeology. Her insatiable appetite for learning never diminished, in spite of the toll the disease took on her. She maintained constant contact with friends and family, through emails, phone calls, texts, sending recipes, important news each person would relate to and perhaps find helpful. She had an encyclopedic knowledge, and an always brilliant and curious mind that was consolation for where her body failed her, and never stopped pursuing online news events, developments, discoveries, revelations.  She amassed over decades a remarkable knowledge of her friends’ families, children and accomplishments, with an incredible memory for detail, dates, and events. Refusing to be institutionalized, she stayed in her home to the end, with the help of home hospice, home caretakers, her husband, and financial aid through Pennsylvania Act 150. Her bed became the control center from which she monitored, opinionated, guided and nudged the lives of her friends, family, colleagues and anyone else in contact with her by proximity or digital access.

An enduring legacy of Giselle’s will be her nursing. Although she was unable to continue in the field that gave her enormous satisfaction and pride, she nevertheless became a teacher, passing on her knowledge and experience to the many caregivers, nurses, and nurses aides who tended to her during her illness. Often demanding, yet nurturing and guiding, she taught the many often new and untrained nurse’s aides and caregivers how to care for her, hands on, practical, often in a baptism of fire. Using her own body and her disease, she was able to teach and pass on invaluable knowledge from theory to practice, far more than they would have received in any other environment. Some of her proteges eventually secured their own nursing degrees, or pursued further training. A mark of her impact on their lives is that many of her ‘students’ became friends, caring for her in her last days with caring that went beyond what caretakers were required to do.

Giselle passed away at home on January 28, 2017 in the company of her family. Giselle’s sense of humor never left her, and even to the end was quick with a quip or observation sure to elicit a smile or a laugh. Her unquenchable joy of living would not allow itself to be vanquished by the disease that took her life, and her impact on her friends, family, colleagues and extended family will be treasured. She is survived by her husband Ronald Guy of Downingtown, Pa, her four brothers Robert of New York City, Michael of Frankford, DE, John of Metuchen, N.J., James of Mt. Pleasant, S.C, her aunt Arlette Wilkes of Downingtown, many nieces, nephews, and her two whippets, Midi and Sadie.

The Memorial Service will be celebrated on Saturday, February 4th at 11:00 AM at Wilde Funeral Home, 434 Main St., Parkesburg, PA with a visitation from 10 until 11 AM.  

Online condolences can be posted at www.wildefuneralhome.com