Mary Frances Allen Gladney

Mary Frances Allen Gladney, 91, retired teacher and resident of South High Street, died Wednesday, October 24, 2012 at Maury Regional Medical Center. Funeral services will be conducted Friday at 2:00 p.m. at Oakes & Nichols with Rev. Frank Smith and Rev. Scott Aleridge officiating. Burial will follow in Rose Hill Cemetery. The family will visit with friends Friday from 12 noon to service time at the funeral home. The family suggests memorials to Mary Frances Allen Gladney Scholarship Fund, Athens State University, P.O. Box 70, Athens, Alabama 35612 or The Annex Fund at First United Methodist Church, 222 West 7th St., Columbia, TN 38401. Condolences may be offered to the family online at www.oakesandnichols.com. The Maury County native was the daughter of the late William James Allen, Sr. and Gladys Wilson Allen. She attended grades 1 through 8 at McDowell Elementary School and graduated from Central High School in 1939. She was a graduate of Athens Methodist College where she worked in the Library and sang in the Glee Club. She married James Buford Gladney, a pilot who was killed in action in the Pacific Theatre during WWII. Her son, James Buford Gladney, Jr. was born shortly after his father was killed. Mrs. Gladney taught in the Maury County School system for thirty-three years starting at Mt. Joy and also teaching at Santa Fe, Central High School and Whitthorne where she taught 9th grade for many years. She was an avid reader and loved to travel having made several trips to Europe. She enjoyed meeting with her high school classmates regularly over the years and was a member of The Retired Teachers Association. In 1930 at ten years of age, she joined the First United Methodist Church. Survivors include a brother, Ernest W. (Virginia) Allen, Sr. of Columbia; sister, Martha Allen Newby of Athens, Alabama; sisters-in-law, Lorene Allen of Columbia, Wynelle Allen of Pulaski, Bessie Gladney of Athens, Alabama; and several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her son, James Buford Gladney, Jr. in 2011; sisters, Gladys Clymer, Annie Walker Bailey, Marguerite Allen; and brothers, Evan Marshall Allen, Sr., Rev. Paul Allen and William James Allen, Jr. Nephews will serve as active pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers include Dr. John Simmons, the staff at Maury Regional Medical Center,and her caring sitters, Shelby Owens and Beverly Tennyson.