Gladys Marie Knowles was born on March 12, 1925, in Jones County, Texas, to Dee and Elma Hager. She passed away peacefully January 8, 2008 to join our Father in Heaven. She was raised in Jones County and as a teenager she moved to Clay County, Texas, where she worked as a waitress and met her husband, Arthur J. Knowles. They were married October 6, 1946. They made their home in Oscar, Oklahoma, where they farmed until moving to Ryan with their three daughters where they opened and operated the Dairy Lane for twenty seven years. Gladys was an active member of the Ryan Church of Christ. She devoted her time and love to raising her daughters. As her family grew, Gladys dedicated her time to grandchildren and great-grandchildren, traveling from activity to event as a cheerleader and supporter. She was known as Granny by not only her family but their friends as well.

Gladys was preceded in death by her husband, J., after sixty years of marriage, her daughter Sandy Long and son-in-law Danny Long, five brothers and two sisters.

Survivors include: one sister - Dorothy Powers of Amarillo, TX; two daughters - Cindy Suitt of Iowa Park, TX, and Lonna and her husband Mike Smith of Duncan, OK; three grandchildren - Stacie and her husband Terry Wright of Ryan, OK, Carissa and her husband Curt Partridge of Iowa Park, TX, and Daniel Long and his wife Sarah of Wichita Falls, TX; eight great-grandchildren - Magen, Hunter, and Macie Jo Wright, Justin Chloe and Carter Partridge, and Jack and Jentry Long.

Funeral services for Mrs. Knowles will be at 2:00 PM, Friday, January 11, 2008, at the Church of Christ in Ryan, Oklahoma, with David Wingfield officiating. Burial will be in the Ryan Cemetery under the direction of Dudley Funeral Home of Ryan. The family will receive visitors at the Ryan Funeral Home Chapel on Thursday from 6:30 to 8:00 PM. Memorial contributions may be made to the Church of Christ in Ryan, the Ryan Booster Club, or the North Texas Rehab Center.