Gladys Bonds-Shropshire was born, September 19, 1910, in Coles, MS.  She was the seventh of thirteen children.  Her parents were Charley Bonds and Susanna Riley-Bonds.  She accepted Christ at an early age and was a member of Bonds Chapel in Crosby, MS.

When Gladys was fifteen, she and her family moved to Gloster, where she attended the Sweet Home School.  Around 1928, she married Herman Shropshire.

Gladys united with Sweet Home Baptist Church where she was a faithful member for over 50 years. She was a devoted homemaker whose passion was baking.  Her specialty was chocolate cake and coconut cake.   However, everyone knows she made the best buttermilk biscuits this side of the Mississippi River.  Gladys was also an entrepreneur.  She sold Lucky Heart Cosmetics and Watkins Products.  Her hobbies included, quilting, sewing, canning, and visiting with family and friends.

The Lord called Gladys home on November 3, 2008 after serving 98 years on the Lord’s battlefield.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Charley and Susanna Bonds; two sisters, Ruthie Harris and Bessie Bonds; seven brothers, Cottrell Bonds, Sr., Eugene Barnes, Buddy Bonds, Mack Bonds, Cleophus Bonds, Emmitt Bonds and Joseph Lee Bonds; and two sons, Lonnie Shropshire, Sr., and John Henry Shropshire.

 Her celebration of life will be remembered by six daughters, Caszine Shropshire, Artimease Williams, Eunice Lee (Pat) Claiborne all of Baton Rouge, LA, Bernice Brown of San Diego, CA, Josephine Charles of Lafayette, LA, Bessie (Stafford) Thompson of Enterprise, AL; two sons, Carl (Betty) Shropshire of New Orleans, LA and Clinton (Mary) Shropshire, Sr. of Baton Rouge, LA; three sisters, Henrietta Anderson, Beatrice Sanders, and Sarah Cupil of Gloster, MS.; 41 grandchildren, 49 great-grandchildren, 12 great-great grandchildren and a host of nieces, nephews, relatives and friends. 

When I come to the end of the road and the sun has set for me, I want no rites in a gloom-filled room, why cry for a soul set free. Miss me a little, but not too long and not with your head bowed low.  Remember the love that we once shared.  Miss me but let me go.  For this journey we all must take and each must go alone.  It’s all a part of the Master’s plan, a step on the road to home.  When you are lonely and sick at heart, go to the friends we know, and bury your sorrows in doing good deeds.  Miss me, but let me go.