On Friday, February 1, 2013, Virginia Elizabeth Glandon of Tulsa OK, died at the University Village at the age of 94 Virginia was born in Kansas City Kansas to James .Edward Smith and Myrtle Maud Scott on June 18 , 1918. She had two brothers, James "Eddie" Smith and Calvin Smith.
After high school, Virginia graduated from Kansas City, Kansas Junior College where she belonged to Zeta sorority. She worked briefly as a secretary and laboratory assistant before marrying Clyde E. Glandon at the age of 21 on January 6,1940, shortly before WWII when Clyde, an attorney, went into the FBI. Clyde's service in the FBI included four years of living in Denver, Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Cleveland, New York City, and Milwaukee. Her husband died in 1984. Virginia was an active member of the community, volunteering at St Paul's Episcopal Church, KCK, Junior League, the American Red Cross, and the Wyandotte County Historical Society, of which she was the first female President. She was a member of the Daughters of the King in the Episcopal Church, as well as Chapter FE PEO sisterhood. Virginia was appointed to the Kansas State Board of Education during both Republican and Democrat administrations, with one term as Chair. She led in the preservation of the Huron Cemetery in Kansas City Kansas, and in creating the first location, and later the permanent location of the Wyandotte County Historical Museum in 1989.
Virginia graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Missouri at Kansas City in 1967, obtained her MA in History in 1969, and PhD in History in 1975 from the University of Kansas. Receiving a dissertation grant, she traveled several times to Ireland to research the role of the press in Ireland during the early 20th century in its struggle for independence from Great Britain. She taught history at Benedictine College as Assistant Professor 1976-1980, Associate Professor 1980-1983, and tenured professor from 1983.
She was Chairperson of the History Department 1979-1982. She also taught part time at UMKC as Associate Professor of History 1976-1998. She was a member of the American Historical Association and its committee for Irish Studies. She was a member of Women Historians of the Mid-West, the Rocky Mountain Conference on British Studies, and the Kansas State Historical Society. Dr. Glandon.also received a National Endowment for the Humanities Award in 1980 for "Museums in Humanistic Education."
Virginia retired in 1992 and moved to Tulsa in 2002. She was a member of Good
Shepherd Episcopal Church in Sapulpa. She continued to lecture on a wide variety of aspects of Irish history for local churches and the Irish Society. She served one year as the grand marshal in the Kansas City St Patrick's Day Parade and was a leader in the establishment of the Irish Center in Kansas City Missouri.
She is survived by her daughter Sarah and her husband Paul Edwards of Pine Mountain, California, her son Clyde and his wife Shan Rohleder of Tulsa, OK; her grandson Jon Scott Edwards of San Mateo, CA, grandson Andrew Alan Glandon of Frisco, TX, and her great grand-daughter Madison Glandon (pictured) also of Frisco, TX.
There will be a memorial Eucharist at Good Shepherd Episcopal in Sapulpa on
Monday, February 4, 2013 at 11:00 A.M. and Burial Mass at St Paul's Kansas City, Kansas Tuesday, February 5, 2013 at 1:00 P.M. Viewing at St. Paul's will be 12 Noon Tuesday. Memorial donations may be made to Good Shepherd Episcopal Sapulpa and St. Paul?s Episcopal, Kansas City. Moore?s Southlawn 663-2233 share memories at www.moorefuneral.com