GLADYS BLEAKLEY LAWRENCE

Gladys Bleakley Lawrence of Tuxedo, NY, 83, an accomplished registered nurse, musician, and world traveler, passed away at her home on October 8th 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, New Jersey. Living for many years in Glen Rock, New Jersey, 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, New Jersey 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, New York. 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, New York and Douglas Weiser of Monsey, New York, and two daughters, Connie Sohodski of Ruby, New York and Patricia Iyer of Stockton, New Jersey, In addition, she survived by a brother, Albert Bleakley of Fayetteville, North Carolina, and her grandchildren Matthew Myczack of Springhill, Tennessee, Shoshanna Guiet of London, England, Raja Iyer of New Dehli, India, Nathan Iyer of Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, and Andrew Giammattei of Delmar, New York. She also survived by a son-in law, Raj Iyer of Stockton, New Jersey, and two-daughters in law, Patricia Weiser of Glenmont, New York, and Joyce Kessinger of Ruby, New York. 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 pm to 4 pm on Friday, October 10 at the Wannamaker and Carlough Funeral Home, 177 Rt. 59, Suffern, New York followed by a funeral service there at 7 pm. Her family will have a private burial ceremony at the Buckingham Friends Meetinghouse churchyard in Lahaska, Pennsylvania 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.