Gladys Riehle

Gladys Riehle

May 19, 1924 – Dec. 26, 2022

Gladys was born in Lancaster, Wash. on May 19, 1924 to S. A. and Elizabeth Johnson. She weighed less than three pounds, and her first bed was a shoe box. When she was five days old, her mother, Elizabeth, died. Gladys was then adopted by Elizabeth's brother, William (Bill) Alfred Birdsell and his wife, Delia (Martz).

Gladys was saved as a girl at the St. John Christian Church. She could be a bit of a jokester. One April Fool's Day she put cardboard in her Dad's sandwich. Also, during a high school dance Gladys and a friend hid in the back of a couple's car. She went to school all 12 years in St. John. During high school she played basketball and the violin. Gladys graduated in 1942. After graduation she worked for Romona Braman until her mother passed away, then Gladys cooked and kept house for her father. She also worked for St. John Grain Growers as a bookkeeper until her marriage to Paul.

Paul was visiting his cousins in St. John, and met Gladys in 1943. On Sept. 23, 1944 they married in St. John. The first night of their honeymoon they went to the Spokane/Coeur d'Alene area but they couldn't find a motel with a vacancy. Consequently, they spent the night in the car.

Paul and Gladys had four children: Phyllis Marie (8/8/45), Wesley William (3/1/48), Richard Paul (4/4/49), and Wayne George (6/1/50). Paul and Gladys raised their family while farming in the Rocklyn area, outside of Davenport, and all the kids graduated from Davenport High School.

In 1976, Paul and Gladys sold the Rocklyn farm and bought an irrigated/rangeland farm 4 miles NE of Wilson Creek. Wayne and his wife, Holly, joined the farming operations in 1977, and Phyllis and her husband, Ed Robinson, joined the operation in 1996.

Gladys continued to live on the farm near Wilson Creek after the death of Paul in 1998. In the fall of 2004, Wayne and Gladys switched houses. Gladys's new house was smaller, but had very few stairs and had been recently remodeled. She stayed in this house until, at the age of 97, she moved into assisted living in Moses Lake. On Dec. 13, 2022 she fell and broke her hip. Gladys never recovered from the break and passed away on Dec. 26, 2022. She is survived by her four children and spouses, 12 grandkids, and 16 great grandkids. A memorial service will be held at 11:00 on Sat., Jan. 14 at Grace Baptist Church in Wilson Creek.