Gladys L. Ross Nettles NettlesNettles was born on February 13,1935 to the late James and Laura Ross in Chidester, Arkansas. Her mother passed when Gladys was 13 years of age and she had to raise her younger brothers, Dell and Amos. She accepted Christ as her personal Savior at an early age. She relocated to Camden where she met Charles(Popeye) Nettles and they were married on June 19, 1959. They joined Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Camden, Arkansas. She served the church as an Usher, Trustee, and Class Leader. From the union of Charles and Gladys, two boys were born: Gregory Charles(1961) and Nicholas Edmond(1971).

She was employed as a housekeeper, Pace Corporation, and Ouachita Convalescent Center as the Director of Housekeeping. Her passion for serving people was exemplified in her church work and community service in helping those in need. She enjoyed shopping and traveling. She believed in education, even though, she only completed the 11 ^th grade. She would be instrumental in taking the family to the AMEC General Conference in 1976 to educate her boys about the African Methodist Episcopal Church and had both actively involved in local church, District, Conference, and Episcopal District activities.

She exemplified her servant mindset after Charles was injured in a tractor-trailer accident by traveling back and forth to Little Rock to visit him in the hospital. Later, her faith was tested when she had to have brain surgery to remove a tumor. Her faith was tested again when the tumor came back and she had to endure a 12 hour surgery. These two events tested her, but they did not defeat her. After Greg and Nick entered the ministry, her highlights were going to hear and support her sons in their respective ministries. Her greatest joy was talking to her grands: Courtney, Shynia, Jalen, and Nick, Jr. When they would call her name-Grand or Momma, she would break out in a smile. Even though, the surgeries caused her to begin to have memory loss and eventually dementia, she never lost her praise. Another one of her joys was talking to her friends that served on the Usher Board: Mae Alice Harris, Mable Armstrong, Mildred Highsmith, Sarah Washington, Amy Banks who all preceded her in death, but Geneva Armstrong kept up the joy of talking on the phone.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband(Charles), and brother(Amos) and sister(Claudia).

She leaves to cherish her life and legacy: two sons, Rev. Gregory C. Nettles(Gladys), Rev. Nicholas E. Nettles(Wanquita); five brothers: Dale Ross, Billy Ross, Stanford Ross, and Derrick Ross, all of Little Rock, Arkansas; Sam McCree, Houston, Texas; six sisters: Mary Bone, Theresa Conners, Rosie Smith, Lucinda Leaks, all of Little Rock, Arkansas; Lyda Daniel, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and Lavetta Meyers, Riverside, California; and a host of grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.