Gladys Mattox

1923 - 2021

Gladys Mattox
April 9, 1923 - March 18, 2021
Columbia, South Carolina - Mrs. Gladys B. Mattox, 97, passed away on Thursday, March 18, 2021, just three weeks before her 98th birthday.
The funeral service will be held at 2:00 pm on Monday, March 22, 2021 at Greene Funeral Home Northwest Chapel, with Rev. Jerry Devinney officiating. Burial will be in Laurelwood Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 12:30 pm-1:45 pm, prior to the service.
Born in Rock Hill on April 9, 1923, Mrs. Mattox was the daughter of the late Bammie M. Branham and the late Minnie Stewart Branham. She was the second of their five children. She was also preceded in death by her husband, Paul Harvey Mattox; all of her siblings and their spouses, Morris E. (Edith) Branham, B.M. "Buck" (Faye) Branham, Nancy B. (Harvey) Allen and Jean B. (Wayne) Faile; and several beloved nieces and nephews.
During WWII, she worked as a "Rosie the Riveter" making artillery shells at the US Rubber Plant in Charlotte which operated under the pretense of making tires. At the close of the war, she met and married a retuning soldier and the love of her life, Paul H. Mattox, in 1946. They had one child, Janice Mattox Baldwin, three years later.
Paul owned and operated the Sanitary Barber Shop on Main Street in Rock Hill until his death in 1978. Gladys remained a stay at home mom and caregiver for every family member who was sick or injured or for any new family babies. It was her gift.
She was an active member of Bethel Methodist Church in Rock Hill, serving as president of the Women's Society for many years until she moved to Columbia in 1985. In her later years, she was employed at Winthrop College. She then helped her daughter operate a needlecraft business and finally in raising her two grandchildren, Christopher Paul Mattox Baldwin and Rebecca Mattox Baldwin as well as her two great-grandchildren, Mattox Jameson Baldwin and Declyn Christopher Baldwin. She is also survived by many nieces and nephews.
Mrs. Mattox, Mother, Grandmother, Aunt Becky, Aunt Gladys and recently "Muffer", as she was called by those who loved her, had a long and wonderful life filled with much love and many adventures and travels and will be missed by all of those who can still hear her say, "I love you more" or "I love you better, you know it!"
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in Mrs. Mattox's name to the Humane Society of one's choice or to Amedisys Foundation, 1900 Sunset Blvd, Ste 103, West Columbia, SC 29169.
Condolences may be made at www.greenefuneralhome.net.