Gladys Victoria Gooding was born February 17, 1900 near Colby, Kansas. The daughter of Zena Albert & Rosa Jane Lee Gooding. She attended school in Kansas. on December 25, 1920 she and Lawrence William Heldenbrand were united in marriage. To this union 12 children were born, seven daughters and five sons.
Gladys lived in the Winston Community until 1962 when she and her husband retired and moved to Gallatin. She was a member of the Winston United Methodist Church and the Stringtown Club of Gallatin. Gladys was a steady visitor at the Senior Citizen's Center and was a proud member of the Senior Citizen's Kitchen Band. Gladys especially enjoyed doing all kinds of needlework and crafts with her hands, giving them to her family and friends.
She was adjusting well, it seemed, from the death of her beloved husband just six weeks ago, when death came suddenly Tuesday of an apparent heart attack. She was found by members of her family when they came to check on her in the evening as was their custom.
She leaves to mourn her passing her eleven children: Mrs. Letha Fisher, Emporia, Kansas; Reuben Heldenbrand, Gallatin; Mrs. Florence Boring, Winston; Loren Heldenbrand, Kidder; Mrs. Shirley (Joe) DeLaCruz, Austin, Texas; Robert Heldenbrand, Coffey, Mo; Mrs. Bertha (Robert) Steele, Lithonia, Georgia; Mrs. Virginia (Robert) Vestal, Blue Springs, Mo.; Kenneth Heldenbrand, Winston; Mrs. Frances Mazzucca, Denver, Colorado; and Gerald Heldenbrand, Winston. Thirty-one grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren, one brother, Reuben Gooding, Cameron, Mo.; two sisters, Mae Russell, Cameron, Mo.; and Nannie Reno, Kidder, Mo. One uncle, Clayton Lee, Idana, Kansas; many nieces, nephews and friends.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Lawrence, one child, an infant daughter, Linda Maxine, and her parents Zena and Rosa Gooding.