Gladys Edna Black

Gladys “Gay” Edna Wellendorf Black went home to be with the Lord on November 17, 2024, at The Wesleyan Memory Care in Georgetown, Texas. Gay was born on July 12, 1938, in Davenport, Iowa to Alvin Carl Wellendorf and Gladys Rachel Ione Peeters.

Gay grew up in Davenport, Iowa among a loving extended German family and graduated from Davenport High School. Her post-secondary studies were extensive while attending The University of Iowa for her freshman year before moving to The University of Texas at Austin, where she received BA and MA degrees in Microbiology, and met Tom at church. They dated for 2 ½ years and over that time realized they were each other’s life-long loves and were married in June of 1960.

After their first child was born, Gay was a devoted homemaker, wife, mother and involved in many hours of volunteer work for her church as well as her childrens’ schools and activities. As her children got older she decided to return to school receiving a Masters of Education degree and started her teaching career, which included elementary and middle school science in the gifted student program, later switching to high school chemistry, where she retired in 1998 as lead Chemistry teacher working with accelerated college bound students.

Upon retirement, she and Tom built their dream home in the Texas hill country in Liberty Hill. There she enjoyed spending time with her grandkids, cataloging wildflowers and bird watching. She was an avid seamstress sewing clothes for the grandkids and making quilts for family and charity. One of her proudest accomplishments was needlepointing personalized Christmas stockings for over 20 members of her family. She also was involved for several years teaching ESL through her church and helping to deliver meals through their Meals on Wheels ministry.

She was preceded in death by her parents and brothers, Gary and Paul Wellendorf. She is survived by her husband Tom Black and five children - Cindy and husband Clark Meier, Terri Black and husband David Dean, Dawn Black, Kim and husband Alan Vinson, Andy Black and partner Raymond Glenn, and seven grandchildren – Sarah and husband Brian Westerfield, Rachel Meier, Jake and wife Catherine Vinson, Josh and wife Vivian Vinson, Eli Dean, Wallis Dean, Aaron Dean, and two great grandchildren Breckin Westerfield and Elora Vinson.

Her funeral service will held at Groesbeck Funeral Home on Saturday, November 23rd at 2:00 pm and she will be buried nearby at Fort Parker Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Wesleyan Benevolence Fund https://thewesleyan.org/give/ or a charity of your choice.