Gladys Louise Nelson San AngeloGladys Nelson was born on April 21, 1922 to Fred and Dena Samp in Ipswich, South Dakota. She attended Harmony Township Elementary school and graduated from Ipswich High School in 1938. She then graduated from Mitchell Business College in South Dakota with a Senior Secretarial diploma in 1939.From 1939 to 1943, Gladys was employed by the Federal Land Bank in Mitchell, South Dakota. In May 1943, she enlisted in the WAVES, the Women's Auxiliary to the US Navy, and had basic training at Hunter College in New York City. From there she was sent to the Communications Department in Washington, D. C., where she attained the rank of Specialist Q 1st Class, as a code-breaker. At the end of WWII in 1945, Gladys returned home to South Dakota, and in 1946 entered Baylor University in Waco, Texas. She married Edward W. Nelson on June 16, 1947, and graduated from Baylor in 1949. She subsequently graduated in 1951 from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, with a Master's Degree in Religious Education. After serving with her husband in Baptist churches in Grand Saline, Mexia, Mineola, Texas, and Nashville, Tennessee, they accepted a call to Immanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas. There, Gladys faithfully served as the secretary of the Arkansas Baptist Women's Missionary Union (WMU). In 1956, she and Ed were appointed as missionaries with the International Mission Board to Chile, South America; and after a year of language studies in San Jose, Costa Rica, arrived for service in Santiago in 1958. They served in Santiago and Temuco until transferring to the Baptist Spanish Publishing House in El Paso, Texas in 1970. During their time at the Publishing House, they produced music publications in Spanish for evangelical congregations throughout Latin America. During Gladys' time in El Paso, she also served in the state WMU, and volunteered at the El Paso Clinic, while raising a family and serving alongside Ed in the Music Department of the Publishing House. In 1990, after 32 years with the Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, they retired to San Angelo, Texas and became active at First Baptist Church San Angelo and the Baptist Retirement Community. Gladys served faithfully at FBC San Angelo for over 20 years, and was an active volunteer with the Auxiliary at BRC. Gladys lived out her faith and was a vocal advocate for The Great Commission. She served on the mission field, sang in church choirs, promoted children's missions organizations, and as a youth, after her baptism in 1931, joined and led the South Dakota State Youth Ministry Organization. Gladys considered her children and grandchildren special gifts from God, and so enjoyed spending time with all of them. She is survived by a son, Edward Jr. and his wife, Dr. Patricia Patterson Nelson, now residing in Rome, Georgia; a daughter Lynn, of Triangle, Virginia; and a daughter Lisa and her husband, Philip Cope of Charlotte, North Carolina. Gladys' five grandchildren, Mrs. Michal Nelson Taylor and her husband Nathan Taylor of Buda, Texas; Edward Nelson III and his wife Gaeten of San Antonio, Texas; and Lindsey, Emily and Robert Cope of Charlotte, North Carolina, were so special to her. She was preceded in death by her beloved husband Edward; her parents, BenDena and Fred Samp; and her siblings, Roy, Howard and Carol. In lieu of flowers or rememberances, Gladys would want her love of missions to be acknowledged through gifts to the Baptist Spanish Publishing House Foundation ( friendsofthecasa.org). A memorial service will take place at 1:30 p.m Monday, May 15, 2017 in Baptist Retirement Center Chapel. Arrangements are under the direction of Johnson's Funeral Home. Condolence messages can be left for the family at johnsons-funeralhome.com.