Gladys Bleakley Lawrence

Tuxedo, NY

Gladys Bleakley Lawrence, 83, of Tuxedo, NY, an accomplished registered nurse, musician, and world traveler, passed away at her home on October 8, 2008 after a long illness.

The last of three children of Robert and Edith Bleakley of Lisburn, County Down, Northern Ireland, Gladys was born on March 27, 1925.

She came with her parents to America as a small child and was raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1943, she married the late Howard W. Weiser, an aeronautical engineer with the Curtis Wright Corporation of Woodbridge, NJ. Living for many years in Glen Rock, NJ, Howard and Gladys raised four children: Constance, Patricia, Glenn, and Douglas. Gladys was a homemaker until her mid thirties, when she went to Bergen Pines Nursing School in Paramus, NJ where she graduated head of her class at age 40. She later went on to earn a master's degree in nursing from Manhattan College in New York City.

She began her nursing career at Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, NJ, and later on worked at St Luke's Hospital in New York City. Afterwards, she taught nursing at Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern, NY.

In addition to her nursing career, Gladys was an avid world traveler and sightseer whose many peregrinations over the years brought her to most of the globe's desirable tourist destinations. She was also a gifted amateur pianist with a love of old Tin Pan Alley tunes and an alto in various choral groups.

Her marriage to Howard Weiser ended in divorce, as did a second, brief marriage to Kenneth Lawrence, a professor of engineering at Manhattan College. Her third marriage, to Lester Goldstein, a nuclear engineer with the Stoller Corporation, ended with her husband's death in 2006.

Gladys is survived by two sons, Glenn Weiser of Glenmont, NY and Douglas Weiser of Monsey, NY, and two daughters, Connie Sohodski of Ruby, NY and Patricia Iyer of Stockton, NJ. In addition, she is survived by a brother, Albert Bleakley of Fayetteville, NC, and her grandchildren: Matthew Myczack of Springhill, TN, Shoshanna Guiet of London, England, Raja Iyer of New Dehli, India, Nathan Iyer of Whitehouse Station, NJ, and Andrew Giammattei of Delmar, NY. She is also survived by a son-in-law, Raj Iyer of Stockton, NJ, and two-daughters-in-law, Patricia Weiser of Glenmont, NY and Joyce Kessinger of Ruby, NY. Her older brother, Harold Bleakley, passed away in 2003.

Her family wishes to thank the many members of her book club and her choral group who gave her so much support and comfort in her final years.

Visiting hours will be from for 2 to 4 p.m. today, Friday, October 10 at the Wanamaker and Carlough Funeral Home, 177 Rt. 59, Suffern, NY, followed by a funeral service there at 7 p.m. Her family will have a private burial ceremony at the Buckingham Friends Meetinghouse churchyard in Lahaska, PA the next day.

Donations may be made in Gladys' name to United Hospice of Rockland County, 11 Stokum Lane, New City, NY 10956.

Also, remembrances of Gladys can be posted on the Internet Web site www.mem.com under the name of Gladys Lawrence.