On Wednesday, the community gathered together at Harpoon Harry’s for a touching celebration of life to honor the life and legacy of Gayle Farmer Oberst.
Her friends and family took the opportunity to tell stories about her behind-the-scenes persona during her celebration of life ceremony.
There are several anecdotes about her humor, volunteer work, love of the outdoors, and her enduring devotion to Panama City Beach.
But if you waited for her to tell you, you would never know what she had done. According to a close relative, Gayles never discussed her job.
Therefore, until he made the decision to conduct some independent study, he was unaware of many of her accomplishments.
Jonathan Farmer, one of the former PCB Mayor’s two nephews, said, “I actually googled my aunt and ended up finding news articles about her and reading about the things she had done because she wouldn’t speak on it.” She didn’t want to talk about it because, to her, she was only carrying out her duties. However, she was a huge fan of Panama City Beach,” he added.
As the first and only female mayor of Panama City Beach, Gayle Oberst created history and significantly influenced the development of the city while she was in office. Prior to being named mayor in 2006, she was elected to the PCB city council in 2000 and served for six years.
She decided to leave the position in 2016 after ten years. However, her influence endures, most notably through the project she envisioned while in office, “Gayle’s trails.”
She also helped create Frank Brown Park, Aaron Bessant Ampitheater, Conservation Park, Pier Park, and the new senior center.
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