For Gladys, the sea was more than just a place—it was home. As a lifelong sailor, she spent countless days steering her way up the Eastern Coast. Each trip was a new adventure, with no destination too far and no challenge too great.
In this photo, Gladys is rowing out to her father’s boat, the Helen Mae, which was named after her mother. The Helen Mae began Gladys’ life-long love of boating. Gladys loves to tell the story about skipping school with a girlfriend and taking the boat out for a pleasure cruise. She found out later that one of her father’s buddies followed discreetly behind her in his boat to make sure the girls were okay. When she confessed to her father later, he said “Don’t you think I knew all about that?”
Gladys and her husband purchased their first boat in 1965, an old wooden cruiser named the Side By Side. A few years later, they upgraded to a bigger cabin cruiser, The Jolyn. Gladys’ summer weekends and vacations were spent sleeping aboard The Jolyn with her family, often rafted together with extended family members and other boating pals. When they moved from Connecticut to Massachusetts, Gladys and her family spent a week bringing the Jolyn up along the eastern coast. In the mid 1970’s, they began to get tired of maintaining the old wooden boat, so they switched to a new fiberglass sailboat, the 28- foot Penultimate. Then a few years later, they wanted to go slightly bigger to a 33-foot boat, Penultimate II.
When her husband died in 1981, Gladys kept the boat and captained it herself, often with an all-female crew. She would fearlessly sail in and out of the Merrimack River in Newburyport, where the boat was docked further up the river. The mouth of the river is well known for its dangerous current and can be tricky to navigate. She also had to wait for the Newburyport bridge to open to accommodate her tall mast. She would often have to tack back and forth under sail, while waiting in a very busy harbor.
In addition to her fine seamanship skills, Gladys had a wonderful career in banking. Starting in a small local branch as a teller, she decided to take a job a few years later in her beloved Boston. There she sold savings bank life insurance. She loved working in the city! During this time, her husband became ill with cancer and Gladys left the bank to run his company. She did this for a few years, and then returned to banking as a branch manager in Andover, Mass. Eventually, she went back to a small local bank as treasurer. She retired from banking and then went back to college, earning her bachelor’s degree. She always regretted not going to college, but always said it was worth it to be married and raise her family. She’s had a pretty amazing life, and her children are all so proud of her.
About the Resident Spotlight
In our Resident Spotlight series we celebrate the incredible lives of the residents who call Rockingham County Rehabilitation, Nursing Center, and Assisted Living Community home. Each spotlight features a unique story that reflects the heart and soul of our community’s residents.
