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Gladys Kelly Smith

Gladys Kelly Smith, a long-time resident of The Highlands at Wyomissing, died peacefully, after a short illness, on the morning of October 9, 2017. She was 108. Those attending all agreed it had been an outstandingly great run.

She was born in 1909 in Randolph County Illinois to a school teacher Mum. Her Pa died when she was two and the proverbial hard times followed. Despite what seems to have been a hardscrabble life, she and her two brothers, with the help of extended family members, were all awarded degrees from the University of Southern Illinois.

She became a junior high school teacher and married Reidar Eriksen, an engineer from Trondheim and Kabelvag Norway. They had one child, and lived first in Chicago and then at a Naval Weapons Center in the Mojave Desert, California. She china painted, painted in watercolors, knitted, sewed and worked in stained glass. They retired to Tacoma, Washington and then Camarillo, California.

At 82, and widowed, she moved from California to The Highlands where ten years later, at 92, she married Everett E. Smith, also 92. They became famous for being old, a situation that first amused and then finally annoyed her. She and her second husband enjoyed dancing, traveling, and each other's company until he died when they were both 102.

Always cheerful and viewing life with childlike wonder, her company was a pleasure. When asked the secret of a long and happy life, she stated that it was important to never, ever think of anything unpleasant. This might have left her mind necessarily blank some of the time, but it certainly worked for her.

She is survived by her daughter Gwen Kelly Klein, of North Coventry, Chester County, a nephew Thomas E. Kelly and his two children, the granddaughters of her brother E. Maxwell Morgan and their children as well as devoted friend Helen Shaffer of Wyomissing.

Services will be private at the convenience of the family. Edward J. Kuhn Funeral Home, Inc., West Reading is in charge of arrangements. Online condolences may be recorded at www.kuhnfuneralhomes.com.