Oct. 29, 1936 — Dec. 24, 2023
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Gladys Dolores Parks passed away Sunday, Dec. 24, 2023, in Grand Blanc, Mich., from complications associated with a stroke. She was born in Flint, Mich., Oct. 29, 1936, the third child of five of George and Salvena Polidan.
Her parents and their families emigrated to the United States from Malta in the 1920s. Gladys grew up in a large family setting with 12 aunts and uncles and almost 70 cousins. A particular favorite memory of her childhood was summer visits to Walled Lake Amusement Park with her closest cousins.
Gladys graduated from Flint Technical High School in 1955 with a focus on office skills. Other than shorthand, which was her nemesis, she did so well that she was offered early entry into Tech’s cooperative work program, an accomplishment of which she was particularly proud. She was placed with a law firm and stayed with them until 1957, when she hired into the Flint office of the Michigan State Department of Vocational Rehabilitation Services. She stopped working in the early 1960’s to focus on preparation for her wedding.
In 1956, Gladys celebrated her 20th birthday with a trip to Florida with friends. This trip instilled a lifelong love of Florida vacationing. Decades later she still enjoyed sharing details of the trip and displaying mementoes around her home. She and her friends made a second visit in 1960. She and her family took numerous trips there in the 1960s and 1970s.
In 1957, Gladys met Gary Parks through mutual friends. They were engaged in 1959 and married in 1963 after Gary returned from an overseas posting in the U.S. Army. The couple settled in Flint, where their son Craig was born in 1964. Gary worked as a skilled tradesman at Fisher Body Grand Blanc and helped his father with the family excavating business.
With the pending arrival of their daughter Julie and a desire for a more rural setting, the family moved to Grand Blanc in 1967. Here Gladys met her closest and lifelong friends Phyllis Jones, Mary Bednar and Janice Snyder. She was actively involved in school and after-school activities with her kids and volunteered as a teacher’s aide for many years. In 1979 she returned to work, joining the Grand Blanc Community Schools as an office assistant in Special Education Services.
Gladys and Gary separated in 1984 and eventually divorced, though remained good friends. She retired from the school district in 1989 and eventually moved to Daytona Beach, Fla., to live near Julie. She later relocated to Pullman to live near Craig, and in 2013 made her final move back to Grand Blanc. During this time she enjoyed traveling, attending plays, gardening, cooking and participating in activities through her town’s senior center and her church. Community service was important to Gladys, and she spent much time volunteering at the local hospital or charitable organization. Her final home was in Grand Meadows Senior Apartments, a community that she loved. Her family is grateful to her friends and neighbors there for creating such a warm and welcoming environment.
Gladys is survived by her children, Craig Parks (Ann), of Pullman, and Julie Parks (Tony), of St. Cloud, Fla.; grandsons Collin Parks, Zachary Rogers and Evan Parks; sister, Annette Freeborg; brothers, Richard and Ronald Polidan (Elizabeth); sister-in-law, Irene Polidan; and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents; brother Roger Polidan; brother Norman Polidan, who died in infancy; and brother-in-law Richard Freeborg.
A celebration of life in Michigan is planned for the spring or summer.
