Gladys Harden Stone, 97, of Fitzgerald, Georgia died December 31, 2003, at her home.
Mary Gladys Harden Stone was born July 5, 1906, in Osierfield, Georgia, the youngest child of Seaborn Judge Tecumseh Harden and Nancy Bowen Lewis Harden. She attended Douglas Agricultural and Mechanical School (now South Georgia College) during her high school years and received a two-year teaching degree from Georgia State College for Women. She taught briefly at Ashton School.
On June 2, 1927, Gladys Harden married Justin Paul Stone at the home of her parents in Osierfield by the Reverend James Singleton. Mr. Stone died in June 1989, five days after their 62nd wedding anniversary.
An active member of First Baptist Church, Mrs. Stone taught a Sunday School class for young married woman, participated as a speaker in seminars and often spoke to the combined classes of Fitzgerald High School during chapel programs. She was a member of the original planning committee for Baptist Village.
As versatile as she was creative, Mrs. Stone was an avid gardener, landscaper, musician and seamstress. She was a founding member of the Magnolia Garden Club and a member of The Review Club for nearly sixty years. She wrote poetry and was a member of the Georgia Poetry Society during the 1940’s and 1950’s. She was, for many years, an active correspondent of the poets Archibald Rutledge, Charles Edward Eaton, George Scarbrough and Patricia Wilcox.
Mrs. Stone is survived by her daughters, Eugenia Stone Garland, St. Augustine, FL and Nancy Stone Hough, Fitzgerald; her son-in-law, Samuel A. Garland, St. Augustine, FL; brother Seaborn James Harden, Eastman, GA; sister, Betty Harden Jowers, Fitzgerald; six grandchildren; six great grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren.
Funeral services will be 11 A.M. Friday, January 2, 2004, at the Paulk Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Gerald Thomas officiating. Interment will follow in Evergreen Cemetery. The family will receive friends at the funeral home from 6 to 8 P.M.Thursday. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to Blue-Gray Community Hospice, First Baptist Church or favorite charity.