Gladys Elaine (Kindsvater) Egan
December 1, 1924 ~ November 9, 2023
Gladys Elaine Egan, 98, left this world peacefully Nov. 9, and was greeted at the gates of Heaven by her husband Tom Egan and her two daughters, Margaret and her daughter lost at birth. She was born Dec. 1, 1924, in Pawnee Rock, KS, to John and Mary Kindsvater, and graduated from Kinsley, KS, High School in May, 1942. She married Tom Egan January 16, 1943, and they were devoted to each other in marriage for 60 years, until Tom preceded her in 2003. They had 5 children.
Survivors include children Teresa Browne of OK City, OK, Elaine Wilson of The Villages, FL, and Tom Egan II of Manhattan, KS, 9 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren.
Gladys was a dedicated secretary, first for her future Father-in-Law, where she met her husband Tom Egan, then after her husband went off to WWII in Europe, she became secretary to the Vice President of Boeing Wichita. She performed this important job with competence and dedication to the war effort, when Boeing Wichita grew at a phenomenal rate, from less than 3,000 to almost 30,000 employees.
She faithfully mailed from her heart both love letters and new socks to her husband fighting all the way across France and Germany. After the war she became a homemaker. In 1963 she also became secretary and bookkeeper for her husband when he launched his own business, Tom Egan Roofing, and then for her son, Tom Egan II.
Gladys was enthusiastic in everything she did. She loved contests, and entered the winning name “Bicentennial Center” in the contest held by the City of Salina to name that facility. She also won a very valuable football signed by Dan Marino, which she gifted to her grandson Jamie Wilson. She was the top seller of tickets for the annual Presbyterian Manor Soup Supper fund raiser for many years, after she moved there in January 2004 after the death of her husband.
At the Manor, Gladys led a morning exercise class for many years, and attended all types of exercise classes that the Manor held as well. She enjoyed announcing the birthdays of everyone at lunch in the Manor dining room, and greeted her friends there and everywhere she went. She lived a full and vigorous life, and was always thinking of others. She is dearly missed.
There will be a celebration of life at the Chapel in the Presbyterian Manor in Salina, 2601 E. Crawford St. at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, November 17.
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