Nellie was a very special and much loved lady and lived a full life. She was born in Springfield, Missouri to Monnie Edge Beasley and Milburn Edge in 1923. Her parents divorced when she was very young and she lived with her mother. She attended High School in Springfield where she met her husband to be, Leslie Gladden. They were married in 1941 and moved to Kansas City. They both worked at the old Bendix Aviation Plant in south Kansas City.
Their one and only child, a daughter Carolyn (Carol) Gibson was born in 1942.
As years went by, they both changed jobs. Leslie went to work for Sterling Drug Company out of New York and traveled several states, then was promoted to District Manager. Nellie went to work for the Jones Store in Prairie Village where she became buyer in the handbag department and then she went to work at a local beauty salon as their receptionist. She left there when Leslie decided to retire.
They lived a full life and decided to travel. Nellie and Leslie were blessed to take 12 cruises all around the world and traveled all across the US, as well as England, Ireland, France, Hawaii, Mexico, the Caribbean and many other exotic places.
Leslie passed away in 2010 which brought Nellie much sadness. She was made of strong stuff and continued on with life. She loved her daughter and took very good care of her throughout her life.
Nellie loved music, especially Country and Western. Unfortunately she suffered from Macular Degeneration in both eyes, and also wore hearing aids but that didn't stop her from loving people and enjoying life.
She made many friends along the way. In 2017, as she aged she finally decided to cut back and moved to The Forum in Independent Living. She loved living there and also made many more friends. In 2018 she began having problems with pneumonia. She was in and out of the hospital a couple of times but made it ok. She reentered the hospital in February 2019 and was there for about 9 days and they decided she was strong enough to go back to the Forum's medical center on February 21. She made it but was taken by the Lord that evening about 6:30pm. She went peacefully and not in pain. Nellie was a member of Second Presbyterian Church and was loved by many. She will be missed.
In lieu of flowers, the family request that memorial contributions be made in Nellie’s name to the KC Pet Project; 4400 Raytown Road, Kansas City, MO 64129, (816) 513-9821; https://kcpetproject.org/ and/or Wayside Waifs; 3901 Martha Truman Road, Kansas City, MO 64137, (816) 761-8151; http://www.waysidewaifs.org/
