Liner, Gladine passed peacefully from life on May 3, 2021 in Norman, Oklahoma, where she spent her last seven years near family.
Gladine was born on April 12, 1922, in rural Missouri to a sharecropping family with eight siblings. While attending college in Springfield, MO, she met her future husband, Benice Liner, with whom she shared over 50 years of marriage. At the age of 18, Gladine received her first teaching assignment—a one-room schoolhouse. She continued her education and arrived in Mehlville School District in the early 1950’s. At Mehlville she became the first elementary counselor, later becoming Director of the Early Childhood Center. Gladine will be remembered for her contributions as a pioneer in preschool screening and as the co-facilitator of Mehlville’s “Let’s Get Ready for Kindergarten” program. This program led to the development of “Parents as Teachers” and then evolved to programs both state and nationwide. To honor Gladine, the Mehlville Board of Education named the drive leading to Mehlville’s Early Childhood Center “Gladine Liner Way.” Gladine so enjoyed her time with friends in the bridge club and book club. They meant so much to her, and those special friends kept her young at heart. Her long-time friend, Rosemary, held a very special place in her heart, as Gladine thought of Rosemary as a daughter. Gladine was preceded in death by her husband, Benice. She is survived by her brother Bob, and sister-in-law Barbara, of St Louis, two sons and their wives, Ben (Peggy) of Tierra Verde, FL and Jim (Susan) of Oklahoma City, OK, 5 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
Place and time of service will be announced later.
In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to any of the following: Folds of Honor, Wounded Warrior Project, or Tunnels to Towers Foundation.
It has been such a pleasure getting to know Gladine while playing spirited domino games with her and (my mom) Martha. She would exclaim “Look what I can do” as she would lay down a 20-point domino. She was a joy!
She has been Mom’s friend and neighbor at the assisted living facility for a couple of years. Her energy was an inspiration. She will be missed.
My heart goes out to her sons and their families for their loss.
I often had the pleasure of visiting and playing dominoes with Gladine when I visited my mom at The Legend. They were definitely buddies. Gladine was always upbeat and fun to be around, playing and joking until the staff would tell them it was meal time — before she would start toward the dining room she would always ask, “Do I look okay? Is my hair alright?”
We will miss her and we grieve with you.
Gladine Liner was my kindergarten teacher in 1958 at Oakville Elementary School, so I must say I only knew her as Mrs. Liner, not Gladine. I could not have had a more wonderful first teacher experience. What does a kid of 5 or 6 know about school and teachers? Was she a good teacher or a lousy one? What does a kid of that age know? Well, this kid knew Mrs. Liner was something special. Even at that age she impressed me as having a special knowledge when it came to dealing with kids. She encouraged my interests, even when those interests weren’t part of the kindergarten curriculum (is there/was there a specific kindergarten curriculum in 1958?)
Decades later at an airport, I noticed a lady I thought had to be Mrs. Liner. We were on the same flight and the two separate lines of passengers boarding were evening merging into one. I positioned myself to hopefully “zipper” into the single line near/next to this woman. It worked. When our two lines converged into one she looked at me and said my name! I hope every one of her students over the decades of her career would have such a wonderful memory of Mrs. Liner, I know she remembered each and every one of us.
Love you Mrs. Liner,
Eddie
Mrs. Liner was my second grade teacher at Oakville Elementary. She was a marvelous person and teacher. Her daughter-in-law Peggy was in that class, too. That was in 1953. She did always remember her students even after years of not seeing them. I encountered her once at West County Mall and she knew immediately who I was. My deepest sympathies for your loss.