Gladys McNatt

Gladys McNattMadison - Gladys Martin McNatt, a native of Madison who had retired to her hometown after a career as a teacher and administrator in the New York City public schools, died peacefully at her home on Wednesday, October 14, age 102. Gladys, known to her family and close friends as Diddy, was one of the fourteen surviving children of Roman and Annie Martin of Madison. She graduated from Fayetteville State University in 1942, where she was a star on the school's basketball team. She was inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1989. After moving to New York, she began her career in the city's public schools, and along the way earned a master's degree from Teachers College, Columbia University. It was in New York that she also met Isaac McNatt, a native of Fayetteville, N.C., who had moved to New York to earn his law degree from St. John's University; they married in 1946. In 1960, the couple moved from Harlem to Teaneck, N.J., where they raised their two sons, Glenn and Robert. They were married for almost 63 years until Isaac's death in 2009.Gladys was very active in the Unitarian Universalist (UU) denomination, first at the church where she was married, the Community Church of New York, and later at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Greensboro, NC. Gladys also was involved on the national and international levels of the denomination. She served as a member of the UUA President's Council and its General Assembly Planning Committee, as well as president of the International Association of Liberal Religious Women.Gladys never forgot how to have fun. She loved bicycling around Teaneck, chatting with her neighbors, getting involved in local politics, traveling the world, and keeping up with tennis. (How she loved watching Serena and Venus play!) She herself played tennis competitively until well into her 70s, and was nationally ranked. She loved to cook for parties and holiday gatherings of family, friends, and newcomers to her circle. At Diddy's dinner table, everyone–including her beloved dog, Tinker-was always welcome.Gladys is survived by son Robert and daughter-in-law Rosemary (Bray), of Oakland Calif.; grandsons Allen McNatt, also of Oakland, and Daniel McNatt, of Columbus, Ohio; daughter-in-law Marian (Holmes) of Washington D.C.; two children in all ways but blood, Deidre Chambland Tinsley and Rufus (Tony) Tinsley of Fort Hood, Texas; sisters Eudoxia Dalton of Madison, Dorothy James of Stokesdale, N.C., and Lois Fears of Sun City Center, Fla.; and many nieces, nephews and cousins. She is immediately predeceased by son Glenn, who died in 2018. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that all those in sympathy with Gladys's strong commitment to education make a contribution to the Roman & Annie Martin Memorial Scholarship Fund, or RAMMS Fund, at their website.