Gladys Parsons, age 91, of Mt. Vernon died Saturday, October 13, 1921 at Avera Queen of Peace Hospital. Funeral services will be at 10:00 AM Thursday at the Will Funeral Chapel. Visitation will be from 6 to 8 PM Wednesday at the Will Funeral Chapel. Burial will be in Mt. Vernon Cemetery. Gladys Mae Parsons was born in rural Presho SD on May 10, 2012 to George and Hattie (Dittman) Ramser. She attended country school and worked on the family farm. Upon finishing school, she worked as a Nurses-Aid at the Hospital in Pierre SD. She also worked in a factory in the Oakland California area for a brief time before returning to the family farm once again. She married Cecil E. Parsons on May 1, 1952. Gladys and Cecil made their homes in Canistota, Highmore and Kimball SD where they operated a family run farm and started their family of seven children: two girls and five boys. Cecil took a job working for the Brule County Highway Department and they left the farm for Pukwana SD. In 1967 they moved to Mt. Vernon SD where Cecil was the city maintenance man. In 1969, they moved to Armour SD where Cecil was the Douglass County Highway Superintendent and Gladys was busy raising 7 kids as the homemaker. In 1974, they moved back to Mt. Vernon where Cecil started his Roofing and Sharp-All Businesses and with her kids being older now, Gladys went back to work as a Nurses Aid. She worked for the Storla Nursing Home for 10 years and several more years for the Firesteel Nursing Home in Mitchell until she retired in 1989. After she retired, Gladys stayed active by traveling to visit her kids around the United States. She made trips to Wyoming, Colorado, Missouri, Texas, California, Washington DC, Maryland, Illinois and Nebraska. Her favorite travel destination was the Black Hills of SD, where she visited her son Bob and Daughter-in-law Lisa Parsons and family. Gladys had many hobbies; she loved to listen to country western, polka and blue grass music. She also enjoyed playing cards and board games with her friends and family. She kept healthy by walking her dog and riding her bike and kept her mind sharp by doing crossword puzzles and reading the Daily Republic Newspaper, books and her Bible. She loved to watch her children and grandchildren participate in sports. She was a baseball-mom for her kids and transported many of pee wee and midget baseball teams to games and tournaments outside of town. She loved to watch basketball which was her favorite sport and her favorite teams were the Mt. Vernon Mustangs and the Phoenix Suns (sorry Terry Heisingershe could never switch to the Lakers despite your best effort). Gladys is the Mother and Mother-in-law of Gloria and Terry Heisinger of Mitchell SD, Mary and Dave Koster of Thornton CO, John and Joanne Parsons of Fairfield CA, Charlie and Jill Parsons of Lancaster MO, Bob and Lisa Parsons of Custer SD, Jim and Jill Parsons of Mt. Vernon SD and Terry and Tammy Parsons of Abilene TX. She is the grandmother of Heather, Jeremy, Josh, Brandon, Eric, Emily, Abbey, Margie, Caleb, Isaac, Ellie, Israel, Hannah, Zeb, Gabe, Sophie, Jay, Austin and Faith. Finally she is the great-Grandmother to Tyson, Tate, Myles, Riot, Charley and Rye. She was preceded in death by her husband Cecil, grandson Gabe, four brothers Chuck, Kenneth, Glen and Carl Ramser and three sisters LaVonne Ehlers, Eleonora Olsen and Dorothy Scott. Most importantly, Gladys trusted Jesus Christ to be her Savior when she was 65 years old and is now with her God and Creator for the rest of eternity. PTL