Gladys “G" Nordquist Pike died peacefully at home on June 15, at the amazing age of 102. She was, by every account, sharp, witty and competitive -anyone who ever sat across from her at a Scrabble board will confirm this. Gladys played to win, and for the better part of a century, she usually did. She kept a dictionary and an encyclopedia in nearly every room of her house, not for decoration, but as a true wordsmith, liked her references close at hand.
Gladys was born in Maplewood, NJ in 1924 and met the love of her life fifteen years later, by whistling at a handsome boy from across the street. She and Doug were both students at Columbia High School at the time, and it apparently only took one good whistle to start a lifetime together. Those were some of the happiest days with her high school friends that she kept in contact with for the rest of her life. She went on to attend Grinnell College in Iowa, and they married after Doug returned home from the South Pacific, where he had served as a Marine during World War II.They settled in Summit, New Jersey, to raise their family. Gladys filled the years there by volunteering with various organizations including reading books for the visually impaired. Through her church, she and Doug would make regular visits to homebound parishioners, who relied on their company.
She encouraged her three daughters to pursue their talents similar to her own ambitions, Cynthia became an accomplished artist, another, Deborah pursued an early career in world travel, Judith became a college professor of British literature.
Renaissance art and travel were her other passions. She was a familiar presence at the Met and the Frick, where she would spend hours quietly studying the collections.
She made dozens of trips across Europe, mixing pleasure with serious research. In her mid-50s, rather than slowing down, she went back to college to study art history, and from that pursuit came a manuscript written for fellow museum-goers, highlighting the finest paintings to view in Europe’s great museums.
For thirty years, the family gathered for weekends at their cabin in Vermont, filling the seasons with sports and competitive board games. She and Doug enjoyed the last chapter of their 51 years together living on Beacon Hill in Boston and then in Easton, Maryland. After Doug passed away in 2001 Gladys returned to MA and settled on Cape Cod, where she then met Peter Hickman, a wonderful companion, who passed away in 2014.
In her later years she grew even more devoted to her faith. Wherever she lived she joined a church and became an active member. She also became a steady supporter of its mission work and remained in close contact with many of the missionaries around the world. Through it all, Gladys carried an enthusiasm for adventure that never dimmed, eventually taking her grandchildren with her, including her last trip back to Europe at age 90 to visit the sites she liked best with her daughters & granddaughters.
Gladys liked to credit her Scandinavian heritage, along with chocolate and red wine, for her long and remarkably healthy life. Given that she made it to 102 with her wit, competitive streak, and her loving devotion to her children and grandchildren, it’s hard to argue with that belief. We will always remember her keen intellect, her sharp sense of humor, her great generosity and steadfast kindness to others.
She is survived by her three daughters Cynthia Boynton, Deborah Emmett-Pike, her husband, Steven Emmett, and Judith Pike. Gladys also leaves seven grandchildren: Matthew Boynton, his wife Courtney; Lauren Boynton, Douglas Emmett, his wife, Erin; Erik Emmett, his fiancé Victoria; Katherine Emmett, her husband Paul; Theo Williams, his wife Erin; Elly Pike, her husband Jon; along with her six great-grandchildren: Navy and Sylvie Dennison-Emmett, Bizzy Boynton, Wiley Emmett, William Carey and Penelope Dykes. She is also survived by her late sister Audrey O'Neill Curtis’s family.
A celebration of Gladys’s life will be held in Easton, Maryland at a future date.
The family is so thankful to all the caregivers who helped her this past year from Taynar Prime Life Home Care.
Donations are also welcome to the church of your choice or Continuum Hospice of Cape Cod (www.continuumhospice.com) to whom we are grateful for helping her “go gently into the night” to be with the Lord.