Gladys Winifred Cool

Gladys W. Cool, 82, of Granite Falls, Wash. passed away February 6, 2026. The daughter of John and Norma Festa, and the wife of the late, Bradley D. Cool. Gladys is survived by her children; Donald Cool (wife-Melanie), Daniel Cool (wife-Kathryn), Catherine Vermillion (husband-Casey). Her grandchildren; Bradley, Joseph, Jase, Megan, and Matthew; and great-granddaughter, Catherine. Along with three siblings, John Festa, Pam Nye, and the late Angela Griffen, and many nieces and nephews among other family and friends.

Gladys was born in Portland, Oregon. Shortly after, her parents moved to Bothell, Wash. where she grew up and graduated from Bothell High School. In her twenties, she set out to see the world, signed up to work for the US Embassy as a Secretary, and moved across the sea to places such as Hong Kong, Pakistan, Japan, Afghanistan, India, and Thailand. Her last Embassy Tour was in Moscow, Russia in 1971, where she met her husband, Bradley. As her tour ended, she moved back home to Bothell and left Bradley to his Military Service. He missed her so much he wrote home to her and asked her to marry him, where she promptly said yes and drove 40 minutes to Granite Falls to meet his mother and all eight siblings without him. Bradley returned home on leave and they married on May 12th, 1973.

Bradley’s next assignment took them to Omaha, Nebraska, where Donald was born in 1975. As the military usually goes, they did not stay long, and were sent back to Alaska, where they had Daniel and Catherine. A quick 18-month stint in Texas, and back to Alaska for 9 more years. Gladys was a stay-at-home mother until her youngest turned five, she then took a position as a secretary at an Aero Club, which started her tenure in Aerospace. When Bradley retired in 1991, they moved to his hometown, Granite Falls. They then spent 4 years building their forever-home on twenty-nine acres of the sixty acres Bradley grew up on. While building a home for her family she took a position at another Aerospace company as a Librarian of Engineering, cataloging and reprinting original copies of the Twin Commander Aircraft. She retired in 2009, at the age of 66.

When Gladys lost her husband in 2015, Catherine and Casey, moved in with her to help take care of her, the home, and the twenty-nine acres. All three of her children are now home and live or are building their own homes on her twenty-nine acres.

Gladys was an avid reader, mostly of romance and fantasy with a little mystery and mayhem interspersed. She was always reading, even in supermarket checkout lines. She was also known for being a good baker and her Apple Pies and Wacky Cake were the best thing you’ve ever tasted. She loved all genres of music and while she mostly listened to Patsy Cline and the like, you could see her tapping her fingers or feet along to her daughter’s rock music or singing along with pop from all generations. She also loved to dance. Gladys enjoyed Coca-Cola, a medium-rare steak, and anything sweet; pastries, baked goods, or candy were her go to.

If you had the fortune of meeting Gladys, she would regale you with her many trips and adventures over her lifetime. She was talkative, caring, and an encyclopedia of knowledge, hence the many episodes of Jeopardy.

We ask all who knew her to join us in her Celebration of Life on Saturday, May 9th at her forever-home (Please contact Catherine for address). A small ceremony to commemorate her will begin at 1PM, with planting her favorite flower, a Dogwood Tree, in her honor. A potluck to follow.