Lyndon Kelsey Gladden

Lyndon Kelsey Gladden

March 5, 1930-August 5, 2018

L.K. “Clag” Gladden died at his home in League City, TX, on Sunday, August 5, ending his long journey through Alzheimer’s Disease. L.K. was born in Manchester, GA, on March 5, 1930, to Jesse and Doris Baker Gladden. He was one of six children. He attended Louisiana College on a sports scholarship, and there he met Helen Carol Thomas. They married on June 1, 1956, on the lawn of the Thomas family home. The Gladdens lived in the Jennings, LA, area for a few years before moving to Big Spring, TX, where they made their home for 53 years. L.K. worked as a planning engineer at Cosden Oil and Chemical Refinery. After his early retirement, L.K., who had an undergraduate degree in mathematics, completed 60 hours of education courses at Sul Ross State University in order to become a secondary math teacher for the Big Spring Independent School District.

The Gladdens were long-time members of the First Baptist Church in Big Spring, TX, where, in his younger years, L.K. often served as master of ceremonies and entertained at church functions. After moving to the Houston area, the Gladdens joined the Nassau Bay Baptist Church. Throughout their marriage, they were very active socially, participating in a supper club, taking cruises with L.K.’s high-school friends as well as college friends and others, and serving as charter members of the Midland Ballroom Dance Society. L.K. served in the National Guard during the 1950s. He was a 32nd-degree Mason and a longtime supporter of the Shriners Hospital for Children.

L.K. is survived by his wife of 62 years, their son, Samuel Lyndon, and nieces for whom he served as a father and grandfather figure. He was preceded in death by his parents and all five of his siblings: Virginia Gladden Powell, Nita Gladden Johns, Othel Gladden Calain, Edsel “Eddie” Gladden, and Larry Gladden. The family will receive friends at Miguez Funeral Home in Jennings, LA, on Wednesday, August 8, from 5:00-7:00 P.M. Friends may also attend a viewing in the hour prior to the funeral service which will be at Miguez on Thursday, August 9, at 11:00 A.M. Pastor Mark Lindsey of the First Baptist Church of Big Spring will officiate with music to be provided by long-time family friend and former music director at First Baptist Church, Joe Whitten. Burial will follow in the Thomas family plot at Greenwood Cemetery. Family will serve as pallbearers: Manuel Berrio, Scott Landry, L.E. “Chip” Shirley III, Jack Shirley, Semmes White, and Tom Wilson. Rand Alexander, Terry Gann, and Louis Puneky will be honorary pallbearers.

Friends who wish to furnish memorial gifts are encouraged to make contributions to the Alzheimer’s Association of America, the Shriners Hospital for Children, the First Baptist Church in Big Spring, or a local pet charity.