Gladys Apperson

1914 - 2010

Gladys Rowher Apperson passed away on December 26, 2010, at the age of 96. She was born in Bloomfield, Nebraska, on September 6, 1914, to Hans and Christina Rowher. Her parents were immigrants from Northern Germany.
Gladys was raised in rural Nebraska with her three brothers and three sisters. She was the youngest child of the family.
Gladys taught all grades in a small Indian reservation school for one year. She married Woody Apperson and they moved to California in the early 1930s seeking employment during the Depression. Landing in Corcoran, Gladys and Woody had two daughters, Moonyean Apperson Gilkey and Dianne Apperson Gage. She had five grandchildren-Kirk, Matt and Ralph Gilkey and Lisa and John Gage. She also had 10 great grandchildren: Jess, Taylor, Paige, Hans, Campbell, Kevin and Olivia Gilkey and Nathaniel, Jeremy and Abigail Gage.
Woody had early-onset Parkinson's disease and Gladys was the main financial provider. Woody died in 1965.
Her career included working as head clerk at the rationing board during World War II and then as a bookkeeper for the J.G. Boswell Company. She retired from the Boswell Company in 1980 after 34 years of loyal service. During her life in Corcoran, she was very active and faithful to the First United Methodist Church, serving as the annual banquet chairman and as church treasurer.
After retirement, she was active in Soroptimist International and was a member of the Kings County Grand Jury. She was named Corcoran's woman of the year in 2001.
She loved to travel and took six trips to Europe and several to the Caribbean with family and friends. Later in life, her older sister Helen moved to Corcoran and she and Helen were great companions. The Rohwer sisters were quite a pair. Gladys always cherished her lunches and outings with friends and fellow seniors of the Corcoran Senior Center.
Gladys loved animals and provided extraordinary care for many dogs and cats over her long productive life.
Her family will remember her as a hard worker, generous provider and advocate of education. She had been a teacher and later in life an ESL adult tutor. Gladys always said, "My proudest moments were when my girls graduated from college."
Her family wishes to extend a special thank you to caregivers Ana Alcantar and Velda Jacobs.
A graveside service will be held at the Corcoran District Cemetery on December 30, 2010, at 9 a.m.
Remembrances may be made to Optimal Hospice Care, 5429 Avenida de los Robles, Suite D, Visalia, CA 93291, or to the First United Methodist Church in Corcoran.