Gladys was born Gladys Elenor Perrine at Hillsboro Hospital on May 20, 1926 to Marian and Florence Perrine of Yamhill. She had two older brothers, Ernest, who was eight years her senior, and Orville, who was twelve years older. She grew up on a ten-acre subsistence farm, which her parents worked more than 60 years until they were too old to continue. Gladys helped with chores as she grew old enough, but also by necessity learned to be content spending most of her time in her own company, which developed in her a love of reading and writing which she continued throughout her life. She also enjoyed playing softball at school, and being involved in school plays and talent shows; many years later she enjoyed singing with the “Sweet Adelines” women’s barbershop quartet group in Salem.
Gladys went to elementary school in Yamhill and graduated from Carlton High School, after which she moved to Salem to attend business school. Following graduation, she worked for a number of years at the Gilbert Tilbury Ford Motor Company in McMinnville.
She met Donald Bryson at the Palm Café in McMinnville when he was just out of the Navy, having served in the South Pacific through World War II. They were married on August 3, 1946 in McMinnville, and remained married until his death in May 1991. Their first child, Gary, was born in February 1948 at McMinnville Hospital. The second of their two children, Terrea, was born in December 1951 at Tongue Point Naval Hospital in Astoria.
Don re-joined the military, changing from the Navy to the Air Force, in order to serve in the Korean War. When Don returned from Korea the family left Oregon to a series of new locations that continued until his retirement from the Air Force in 1967.
Colorado, Wyoming, and Wichita Falls, Texas were short terms followed by assignments to Southern California, first Long Beach and then Inglewood. In Long Beach, Gladys served as a den leader in Gary’s Boy Scout troop, took crafts classes to learn how to make artificial flower arrangements, and was a strong member of her bowling league. The family spent time with neighbors, playing Pinochle and Canasta, and going to Roller Derby games. The move to Inglewood was due to Don’s transferring from the Air Force’s Finance Division into Strategic Air Command (SAC). Gladys went to work for the California State Employment Division and continued her bowling. The family went camping and to drive-in movies with other military families, and enjoyed frequent trips to Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm and a favorite, the no-longer-existing Marineland of the Pacific in Palos Verdes.
Throughout her life, Gladys was an avid amateur photographer, and left behind a huge collection of her photos of family, friends and travels. In the Inglewood period, Super 8mm movie cameras came out and Gladys was quick to buy one and experiment with home movies. There was a learning curve with the camera, however, and there were many reels of film in which her thumb held center screen until she learned the proper grip of the camera. One notable film shot at Marineland had beautiful sunset shots of the performing dolphins in the pools…except that they jumped from one corner into her thumb, and then dropped back into the water from her thumb on the opposite side. The family had at least as much fun from those “thumb movies” as from the ones shot after she had perfected her technique.
In 1960 Don was assigned to Turkey for a year and a half, and Gladys and the two kids moved back to McMinnville for the duration. Gladys worked at McMinnville Hospital, and the three of them spent their time with Gladys’s family at the Yamhill farm and Don’s family members around McMinnville and Carlton. Don’s mother owned a large house in McMinnville which was a center for family gatherings. She operated a day care center there for many years; the house was beautifully remodeled and is now a bed and breakfast inn called Martha’s Vineyard West.
In summer 1962 Don came back from Turkey with a new assignment and the family set off to Texas, first El Paso until 1966, then Amarillo until he retired after more than 20 years in the military. Being in SAC during the U.S.’s involvement in the Viet Nam War required Don to be away on frequent Temporary Duty Assignments (“TDYs”) to Southeast Asia throughout the Texas years. The family lived on the bases, Biggs AFB in El Paso and Amarillo AFB; Gladys worked as a teller at both on-base banks, and busied herself with ceramics classes and two teenage kids.
In summer 1967 Don retired from the Air Force and the family moved back to Oregon, settling in Salem. Gladys went to work for the Salem local office of the Oregon State Employment Division; later she was promoted into the Central office and remained there until her retirement in 1989.
Gladys was happy to be home in the Willamette Valley, happy to be close to family again, and to spend time socializing with long-time friends from both her own early years and Don’s, as well as new friends from work. She attended her high school reunions until there was no one left from her classes to visit with. She found great enjoyment in singing and performing with the Sweet Adelines, attending services and classes at Woodland Chapel Spiritual Living Center, and in being involved in and chairing a writing group at the Salem Public Library. She also published a number of “Letters to the Editor” at the Statesman Journal. Don missed the military and struggled to settle in to civilian life until he joined the Army Corps of Engineers in the late 1970’s. He was assigned to a stint in Saudi Arabia, and later commuted between Salem and Portland. He retired from the Corps in 1988 when he became ill; he passed away in 1991.
Don’s time in Saudi Arabia gave Gladys the opportunity to do some international traveling during her vacation time from the Employment Division. They spent time together where he was based in Saudi Arabia, and also visited Egypt and Greece. En-route to and from visiting Don, Gladys had some fondly remembered adventures on her own, exploring New York City and London.
Her varied life and travels supplied encouragement and rich material for her favorite hobbies: writing, reading, and studying. She filled numerous large binders with her autobiographical tales documenting her life, travels, friends and family, collectively titled PIECES OF LIFE – FROM PRAIRIES TO PYRAMIDS, by Gladys Bryson, An Oregonian. Her writings provide a precious and priceless record of the life and times of a simple farm girl who experienced the world through 96 years of major wars, huge societal changes, wide family connections and world travels. She was an animal-lover who always had a cat at her side. She loved meeting all kinds of people, was always quick with a smile or a laugh, and had a wonderful sense of humor. She was an intelligent, socially conscious, talented, passionate and warm human being.
Gladys passed peacefully in her sleep in her residence in the Assisted Living facility at The Springs at Lancaster Village in Salem, on a beautiful bright sunny winter day. She had moved into Lancaster Village’s Independent Living section in August 2012, and transferred into the Assisted Living building in June 2019. She is survived by her son Gary and her daughter Terrea.
Partager l'avis de décès
v.1.9.6