Gladys Mae Van Kauwenbergh

We just received a call from Glenn Matson who told us about Gladys passing. Our sympathy to family - Dick and Beckie Hawker

Steve, Pat and I are very sorry to learn of the recent loss of your mother. Regrettably, this moment comes to all of us. We extend our sympathy to you and all the members of your family.--Pat and Guerry McClellan

While sitting with my mom, a Memory Care neighbor of Gladys's, I often looked across the room for Gladys's radiant smile. It became a game that including waving merrily at one another as we dined. (She was too popular to gain a chance to dine with her.) During the year of our acquaintance, I smuggled a few chilled Diet Cokes to her from the shop across the hall during the past year and the occasional single-serving applesauce cup too. She always stationed herself at the main exit door so as to miss nothing. I often squeezed her hand or patted her shoulder before or after a visit with my mom. Gladys treated me like a daughter, straightening my clothing, pulling fuzz off, fixing my collar. I also a privileged guest in her apartment twice, and we discussed the many original touches in her paintings, displayed there with pride. The lady at the piano particularly impressed me. II met Gary a few times and my last memory of Gladys was waiting at the front double-doors while Steve drove up to take her to a fine family dinner around New Year's Day. Gladys and I schemed to get her a new pair of better-fitting jeans after Christmas. I'm pretty sure she won't need them in Heaven. Judging by her calm mentions of her husband Harold, her passion betrayed only in how often she mentioned his name and pointed to the their photo together hanging at her front door, I'm pretty sure she rushed right back into her arms, all other needs and infirmities falling away. Thank you for touching my life, Gladys.