Obituary: Gladys M. Gay, 103, was Easton's Oldest Resident

Gladys May (Smith) Gay, 103, Easton's oldest resident, died Sunday, Oct. 27, 2013, at Southeast Rehabilitation and Skilled Care Center with her son at her bedside. Born Dec. 10, 1909, in Hantsport, Nova Scotia, was brought up on a farm for the first nine years of her life.  

Her grandfather was a sea captain and her father was born aboard ship in the harbour of Liverpool, England, in 1874. Her father was a career military man, a drill sergeant, stationed at the Citadel in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Had it not been for the fact that her father was on leave Dec. 6, 1917, she most probably would not have survived The Halifax Disaster when the French munitions ship, SS Mont-Blanc, exploded in Halifax Harbour killing 2,000 and causing serious injury to more than 9,000 people. The vibration from the explosion killed most of the children who were present in her classroom that day.

When Gladys' father retired from military service in 1918, they moved to Easton, where her father took the job as a Teamster for the Ames family working out of the Clock Farm. By the age of twenty-two, she lost all of her siblings- a sister, Mary to disease, a brother, Stephen to World War I, and her brother, Arthur, to a boating accident. Gladys graduated from Oliver Ames High School in 1929 and ran a hairdressing business out of her home from 1930-1963.

She married her husband, Howard Gay, a firefighter from Stoughton, in 1942. He died in 1977 after suffering from Parkinson's Disease. Gladys lived in a number of apartments until 1984 and her admission to the Stonehill Manor Nursing Home, then in 1996 to the Southeast Rehabilitation and Skilled Care Center of Easton.

Gladys leaves her son, Stephen Gay and his wife Nancy (Hopwood) of Easton. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend visiting hours Friday, Nov. 1, 2013, from 5-8 p.m. in Kane Funeral Home & Cremation Services, 605 Washington Street (Rte. 138), Easton, followed by a funeral service at 8 p.m. in the funeral home. Private interment will be held in South Easton Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations in Gladys' memory may be sent to Hospice Services of Massachusetts, 577 Main Street, Wareham, MA 02571. For directions or condolences, www.kanefuneralhome.com.