There was a huge celebration in heaven on Sunday, Oct. 15, 2017 at 7:20 am when Gladys was reunited with her parents Benjamin Harrison and Ruby May. Her brothers Claire Roland and Merle Theodore Dronebarger and sister Thea M. Saylor were also among the many family and friends that had gone home before her. ❤ Gladys, a 91 year old lifelong resident of Barberton, Ohio, lived her entire life in the house she was born in. A graduate of Barberton High School, she retired from the First Merit Bank (formerly First National) in Barberton after thirty-two years of service. She was a faithful member of First Baptist Church of Barberton for 77 years where she was an active volunteer and a choir member for 40 years. Her family and friends will remember her as spirited and feisty with a deep sense of compassion and devotion to others. Gladys never married or had children; instead at the age of 17 she felt a calling to care for her mother, who became a widow when Gladys was only two months old. Together, they enjoyed traveling the United States, bowling, hosting large holiday dinners and visiting family, friends and shut-ins from her church. Gladys will be missed by her nephew, Kenny Dronebarger (Sandy); nieces: Ruby Foster (Jim), Nancy Townsend (Bud); grand-niece, Sherry Carnahan (James) and numerous other nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. She will be missed most of all by her best friend, Norma Vale (nee Thompson). Friends since high school, they were as close as sisters and were blessed to spend their last few years together at Pleasant Pointe Assisted Living where they were nearly inseparable. The family would like to thank the entire staff at Pleasant Pointe Assisted Living who took such good care of Gladys for nearly one-and-a-half years and especially during the last month of her illness. A special thank you to the Nurses and PA Mackenzie at The Wound Center at Barberton Hospital for the special care they gave Gladys this past year and to nurses Angie and Emily of Crossroads Hospice Center for caring for Gladys in her last few hours of life. Funeral Services have been held. Burial will be held at 3pm on Monday, Oct. 22nd at 3pm Greenlawn Memorial Park.

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