Gladys Astrid Crites Thackeray

Gladys Astrid Crites Thackeray, 86, of Havre, died Saturday, Sept. 12, at Sweet Nursing Home in Chinook after a long illness.

Funeral services are scheduled for Friday September 18 at 1 p.m. at Community Alliance Church, 925 Eighth St. in Havre, with Pastor Tim Zerger officiating. Burial will follow in Highland Cemetery. Holland & Bonine has been entrusted with services and arrangements. Please visit Gladys' online memorial page and leave a message of condolence for her family at http://www.hollandbonine.com.

Gladys was born July 18, 1929, at Deaconess Hospital in Havre to Hollis G. and Gladys Opal Light Crites of Gilford. She attended schools in Gilford and Anaconda and graduated from Havre High School. Her father died when she was 12, and her mother later married his cousin, William Crites.

After moving to Havre to finish her schooling, Gladys shared an apartment with friends who would later become her sisters in law, Fern (Ward) Thackeray and Thurza (Kenny) Thackeray.

On June 29, 1947, Gladys married Fred L. Thackeray at the Presbyterian Church in Havre. The bride wore a long, white dress fashioned by her mother from World War II parachutes. The bodice was made from an American parachute her mother had ordered for $6 from post-war surplus. The gown's silk skirt was created from a "spoils-of-war" Japanese parachute donated by a cousin. The couple was married for 61 years, until Fred's death in 2008.

After their marriage, Fred and Gladys set up housekeeping in Dodson, where they were vital members of the community. Gladys joined several organizations including the Dodson Lutheran Ladies and the Malta Library. In the 1970s, she helped in the planning and design of both the Dodson Lutheran Church and the library in Malta.

Fred and Gladys moved to Havre in 1995 and built their dream house overlooking the Milk River. For many years, they graciously hosted the Thackeray family Fourth-of-July gathering. Along with raising three children, Gladys worked as a nurse's aide, bus driver and combine-crew cook. Her first job was at the mercantile in Gilford where she remembered counting penny nails.

She loved to paint with water colors and oils, and enjoyed cooking, gardening and sewing. One of the highlights of her life was a trip to the Holy Land in the 1970s with Fern Thackeray.

Survivors include her children, Darryll (Sharon) Thackeray of Chinook and Tammy (Robert) Voise of Dodson; brother, Russell (Mary Pat) Crites of Johnston, Colo .; sisters, Lyndal Mauldin of Spring Hill, Fla., and Arla Beene of Elcentro, Calif .; two granddaughters, Susan Schmele of Chinook, and Monica Thackeray of Great Falls; son-in-law Donald Carey of Cut Bank; and two great grandchildren, Jackson and Gavin Schmele, both of Chinook.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her stepfather, her husband, her daughter Jacylyn "Jacay" Carey, and her sister Karen Dolphay.

Memorials donations may be made in Gladys' name to the Havre Community Alliance Church or to the charity of the donor's choice.