Gladys Hanna

passed away on Friday, March 7, 2008 at The Messenger House on Bainbridge Island, Washington. She was 97 years of age and born on July 17, 1910, the middle child of seven, to Gurden and Lulu Merritt in Whiting, Iowa.She was raised on a farm without electricity or plumbing, field work was waiting for her each day after school and summer vacations. After graduating from Whiting High School, she moved to Des Moines, Iowa to study cosmetology. There she met Arthur Figgins. They married and had three children. They were together 48 years until Art's death in 1981. She later met and married Bruce Hanna, a widower with whom she spent 10 happy years until his death in 1993.Most of her life was spent living in Iowa, Minnesota and Arizona. She worked as a hairdresser, owning her own shop. She enjoyed her flower gardens, oil painting, shuffleboard and lawn bowling while wintering in Mesa, Arizona. She looked forward to sharing her summer cabin on Ottertail Lake in Minnesota with her large family. At age 88, she moved to Bainbridge Island to be close to her son, Bernie, when caring for herself became more difficult. At age 95, she moved to the Messenger House Care Center.She was preceded in death by her parents and all of her siblings.Surviving her are her three children; Bernard (Georgia) Bainbridge Island, WA, Larry of Mesa, Arizona and Sharon Silbernagel (Fred) of Oklahoma City, OK. There are 13 grandchildren, 26 great-grandchildren and many step-grandchildren.Memorial contributions can be made to The Bainbridge Island Firefighters Association.Arrangements by Cook Family Funeral Home.