Gladys B. Van Haren

Gladys VanHaren, 91, passed away on March 17, 2006. in Port Charlotte. Gladys was born March 6, 1915 in Mount Pleasant, IA, the daughter of Clyde and Susie (Crain) Thompson. She married Chester 'Chet' VanHaren at St. Anthony's on November 23, 1937. She and Chet lived most of their lives on the VanHaren family farm outside Oconto Falls. Gladys worked alongside Chet on the farm for most of her life, but she also worked at the Oconto Falls Hospital and at Oconto Falls High School where she was a cook and baker, until her retirement in 1979. In 1999 she and Chet moved to Port Charlotte. Gladys loved her family, her work, her garden and the outdoors. She enjoyed doing artwork and handicrafts. Gladys will be deeply missed by Chet, her husband of 68 years; a son Roger (Marilyn) VanHaren of Beaver Dam, WI; and a daughter Joyce of Port Charlotte, FL. She is further survived by two sisters, Vietta Payette of DePere, WI and Beverly Mount of Marshfield, WI; five grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, many nieces and nephews, and friends in Florida and Wisconsin. She was preceded in death by her parents, her brothers Delbert, Kenneth, John and Harold and her sisters Grace, Alice and Hazel.