Ouachita-Richland County Louisiana Archives Obituaries.....GLADNEY, LOUISE TRUSSELL NORRIS January 17, 2009 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Gina Brown http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00025.html#0006026 January 21, 2009, 2:46 am News Star World - January 21, 2009 LOUISE TRUSSELL NORRIS GLADNEY BROWN-HOLLEY FUNERAL HOME Rayville, LA Louise Trussell Norris Gladney ended more than ninety-six years of valuable and joyful living on Saturday, January 17. Her busy and useful life was closely involved with many aspects of the community. Many from this area knew her through her valuable work during her years as head of the home economics department at Rayville High School where she instilled service and joy in living as an integral part of her curriculum. Her personal endorsement of a useful and optimistic life greatly influenced the young people in her charge, and was reflected in her service in the adult world of church and community. Florence Louise Trussell was born to Ivy and Frank Trussell at their farm/home north of Simsboro, LA. She was reared in the family/church community of Antioch, where self-reliance, personal integrity, and concern for one's neighbors were nurturing character- istics all of which became a part of Louise herself. Her education was in Lincoln Parish public schools with college at Louisiana Polytechnic Institute, earning her degree in Home Economics in 1933. That year she married Homer Norris of Ruston. With the start of World War II 1941, Homer entered the Army, serving for the duration. Louise and their two daughters, Bobbye and Bettye, maintained the home in Ruston. In 1946, the family moved to Rayville and soon built their home on Julia Street. Another member joined the family when a boy, William Homer, was born at the Rayville Clinic in 1949. Louise began her teaching career after she was employed as teacher of Home Economics at Rayville High 1949. In 1959, she continued her education by earning her Master of Science degree at Northwestern Stat University in Natchitoches, LA. She worked with the Home Economics program, constantly adding variety and depth to her department. She was also very influential in preparing for the coming change to racial integration, and to the drive for more depth in educational demands. In 1967, she was elected state president of the Home Economics Association of Louisiana, and in the same year received the Louisiana Vocational Association Merit award in recognition of her outstanding service. In 1974, Louise was named Louisiana's Home Economics Teacher of the Year. Homer died in 1969, and in 1975, Louise married Lyman Gladney of Rayville. Her teaching skill and knowledge of her material were great strengths, but her influence on her students went even deeper. They knew she could show them how to set in a buttonhole or make a flat fell seam, but they also learned to work together in meetings and to restate their opinions when they differed. They also learned to respect the opinions of fellow students, and to respect their own ideas. Though the area is saddened by her passing, as it was enriched by her service, the strongest feeling is that of gratitude for having been rewarded with her life. She is survived by her daughter, Bettye Norris Apalategui of Hillsboro, OR, and her husband, Joe, and by her son, William Homer Norris of Simsboro, LA, and wife, Ellis. Grandchildren are Deborah, Doug, and Dan Brown, Adam, Eric, and David Apalategui, and Chris and Jim Norris. She has eight great grandchildren. Her extended family includes step-son, George Gladney and wife, Frances of Rayville, eight step-grandchildren, and eight step-great grandchildren. Louise is preceded in death by husbands, Homer Norris and Lyman Gladney, daughter, Bobbye, and step-daughter, Marcia. Funeral services are 11:00 AM, Wednesday, January 21, 2009 at the Rayville United Methodist Church with Rev. Ted Freeland officiating. Interment will be at 3:00 PM, at Antioch Cemetery, Simsboro, LA under the direction of Brown- Holley Funeral Home, Rayville, La. Pallbearers will be Chris Norris, Jim Norris, Adam Apalategui, Eric Apalategui, David Apalategui, Dan Brown, and Doug Brown. All memorials in memory of Louise may be made to the Rayville United Methodist Church or Antioch Cemetery, in Simsboro, c/o Ellis Norris, Treasurer. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/la/ouachita/obits/g/gladney2918gob.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/lafiles/ File size: 4.7 Kb