A Funeral Service for Gladys M. Provance of Roseau, MN will be held on Friday, June 7, 2024 at 2:00PM at Messiah Lutheran Church in Roseau, MN. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service at the church. Interment will take place at Spruce Cemetery in Roseau, MN.
Gladys Marie (Sather) Provance passed away at LifeCare Roseau Manor on May 25, 2024, where she was affectionately referred to as “Gladdy,” a moniker coined by one of her favorite caregivers, Robert.
Gladys was born to Severin A. Sather and Sophie (Anderson) Sather on April 23, 1926 on the family farm just NE of Starkweather, North Dakota. It was there she grew up, attending school in Royal School No. 2 and Starkweather High School. She continued her education in the College of Home Economics Education at North Dakota Agricultural College (now NDSU) where she met her husband, Bill.
At the tender age of 3, Gladys was diagnosed with Polio. At 13 years of age she endured a spinal fusion to correct her scoliosis and prevent her spine from further curvature. She spent 2 ½ months in a full body cast.
From a young age, Gladys knew she wanted to be a teacher. Her first teaching position in Lakota ND found her teaching Home Economics as well as biology and girls physical education, which makes this writer chuckle thinking of the physical hurdles she had overcome in her childhood.
Gladys also taught in Lancaster, Karlstad, Greenbush and Roseau. Once their first child made his appearance, she stepped away from teaching full-time and didn’t accept a full-time position until their youngest was in school. At that time, Gladys accepted the position of teaching Health Occupations and Careers, which evolved into Education to Careers in Child Care. She touched numerous lives in this teaching endeavor. Many in the community still remember coming to the Provance household to learn to teach daycare or attend the daycare taught by high school students under the tutelage of Mrs. Provance.
A long-time member of Messiah Lutheran Church, she served in a number of capacities over the years. From womens groups to Sunday School teacher and all points in between. She was a proud recipient of the 50 year pin from the Women of the ELCA.
Retirement was good to Bill and Gladys. They spent their summers between their cottage at Buffalo Point and their home in Roseau. Winters were spent in Phoenix, Arizona, where all their children were able visit (with as many grandchildren that had arrived) and pick oranges, grapefruit and lemons from their prolific fruit trees. Eventually, travel became too much for the couple and they settled in Roseau and in May of 2020 they moved into the Roseau Manor.
Having been a server all her life, Gladys took great joy someone taking care of her. She always said, about living at the Manor, “They’re taking good care of me here.”
Surviving Gladys are her children Bill (Marlene) Provance, Juli Nasset (Dwayne), Jim (Jenee) Provance, Dave (Suzanne) Provance and Jeffrey (Kathy) Provance, her brother Gordon (Margaret) Sather, 18 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.
Gladys was preceded in death by her husband of 72 years, Bill, her son, Paul, her sisters and their spouses, Anne (Jim) Quick, Lillian (Myron) Erickstad, Ellen (Joe) Wilhelmi, Ines (Oscar) Tyler, Velma (Ed) DeFrates and an infant sister Elsie.
The family would like to express their thanks to the staff at Roseau Manor for the excellent care given to Gladys and to the staff at Helgeson Funeral Home for their care of her family.
Last modified: 06/04/2024
