I HAD THE HONOR TO BE HER SISTER IN LAW AS WELL AS HER BEING MY FRIEND. SHE WAS ALSO A WONDERFUL AUNT TO MICHELE.  WE HAD MANY GOOD TIMES TOGETHER FOR MANY YEARS. I WILL MISS HER VERY. SHE WAS ALWAYS VERY PROUD OF  HER DAUGHTER DEBBIE.  GLADYS HAD A VERY KIND HEART.  LOVE  JODY

Gladys was well known at Children's Medical Services for her dedication to our patient's medical needs. On September 15th I called Elite to talk with Gladys and was told of her unexpected passing. I sent an e-mail message to the office staff telling them of the sad news. It was NOT a surprise to suddenly have many messages come back to me stating their shock and sorrow to learn of Gladys'passing. She made a lot of friends at CMS with her expertise and compassion for our CMS patients and will be sorely missed.
Gladys earned her rest in heaven to be spent in peace and glory.
With sincere sympathy,
Kathy Farrar,RN
Children's Medical Service

I’ve know my mother all my life.  However, in all my life, I’ve never known a better person.  I know she made an impact on many of your lives, but I want to talk about the impact she’s made on just one - mine.

My mother was married young to an abusive husband who she stayed with until the day he hit her in front of me.  At that point, although she had no idea how she would support herself and her 5 year old daughter, she left, before he had a chance to hit me.  So instead of growing up in an abusive home, I learned how to be strong.  This inner strength is what is allowing me to speak here today

After leaving my father, my mother could have chosen to collect welfare as a means to support us; however, she chose to make less money working on an assembly line because she didn’t believe in having others support you when you could support yourself.  So instead of growing up a welfare child, I learned the value of hard work.

During this time, I went to school with another little girl, Laurie, from a very large and poverty stricken family.  Of course, as a 6 year old child, all I noticed was she was dirty and smelly.  When no one picked her up from school one day, my mother brought her to our tiny apartment and gave her a bath.  She went through my drawers and found some clothes for her to wear as well as some for her to take home with her.  Upon witnessing my mother’s generosity, I felt compelled to give as well.  I went through my toys and gave Laurie two of my favorites - my autograph Snoopy, covered in my friends’ signatures, and my Flatsie dolls my grandparents gave me as a reward for no longer wetting the bed.  That night, I remember crying because I missed my Snoopy and regretting giving away my most prized possessions.  However, that sadness was replaced with an unexplainable joy when the normally sullen Laurie came to school the following day beaming at Show and Tell as she proudly displayed her “new” toys.  And even though I still may not share my McDonald’s French fries, this is how I learned the pleasure that comes from sacrificial giving.

During my teenage years, I always heard about how much the Heavenly Father loved his children at church.  Not having a father, this analogy meant little to me.  However, I knew there was nothing I could say or do that would ever make my mother stop loving me.  This was my example of unconditional love and is the thing I think I will miss most about my mother.  

You may not know this, but my mother turned down a college scholarship when she married my father.  However, she never gave up her dream of getting a degree.  At the age of 61, after 17 long years of taking an evening class each semester, she received her bachelor’s degree from USF.  This was my lesson in perseverance.

When my mother was diagnosed with nerve damage in her foot, she could have accepted her disability, gotten a walker and hung a handicapped sticker on her rearview mirror.  Instead, she got a personal trainer, went to the gym several days a week, and refused to be kept down.  This is how I learned the power of a positive attitude.

My mom called me every night to let me know she was home, “safe and sound”,  tell me about her day and say she loved me very much.  Because of my unusual hours at work, sometimes I would talk to her and sometimes she would leave a message for me to listen to later.  Her last message to me was about the nice day off she had.  As she often did she updated me on the sand hill crane family that came to her bird feeder daily.  Only this day she said just the mother and father had come, and she guessed the time had come for the babies to go off on their own.   Now I, like the baby sand hill cranes, am without my mother.

But my mom always told me she knew God wouldn’t take her until I no longer needed her.  Just Tuesday night, I fell off my bike and skinned my knee.  (Obviously, riding a bike is one lesson I didn’t learn very well.) As I sat there on the side of the road, I remember crying and thinking how much I wanted my mommy.  I don’t know what God thinks happened between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

Maybe he was thinking I needed to remember one of her last lessons.  This one she taught me after her husband , Bill, died.  She loved him so much, and I thought she would be lost without him.  However, she continued to go to work each day.  She then started going to the gym several days a week.  She got involved in even more ministries at church.  She start coaching T-Ball.  She “adopted” a neighbor boy.  And she had a full and happy life.  In doing these things, she taught me that life goes on. 

As my life goes on, my mother continues to live through me.  I see glimpses of her when I look in the mirror.  Her voice speaks to me in my thoughts, and I hear her words coming out of my mouth before I even realize they’re hers.  Many of you also carry a part of my mother with you, and at times you will think, do or say something because of a lesson you learned from her as well. Thank you so much for being a blessing in her life as I know you would thank her, if you could, for being a blessing in yours.

On behalf of Hollister,Incorporated our prayers and thoughts are with you and your family in this time of sorrow.  Hollister is truly grateful to have had a wonderful customer like Gladys for her patronage and support.  Gladys truly made a difference in the lives of so many people.

Respectfully,

Eileen Carey
Professional Sales Specialist Continence Care Division
Hollister, Incorporated

OBITUARY

Gladys Mae Russell

July 2, 1941 – September 15, 2010

Stowers Funeral Home

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