Gladys Brenda Robinson-Scott

GLADYS BRENDA JACKSON ROBINSON-SCOTT was born on January 28, 1928, in Selma, Alabama.  She was the daughter of Mr. Harvey J., Sr. and Mrs. Eddie Mae Holloway Jackson, the eighth of nine children.  Sadly, her mother passed away just a month before Gladys’ third birthday.  Thus, she was reared by her father, her uncle Sam Jackson, her older siblings, and her maternal grandparents, Will and Della Holloway Wages.  Gladys accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and personal savior and during her early childhood, the family attended First Baptist Church in Selma.

Growing up in Selma, she attended Payne Elementary School, Clark School, and Knox Academy.  In 1942, some of the Jackson family began migrating north.  At that time, Gladys went to live with her older sister Sammye in Montgomery so that she could complete high school in Alabama.  She attended Snow Hill Normal and Industrial Institute, a boarding school in Snow Hill, Alabama, where she was Homecoming Queen two years consecutively, before graduating in 1947.

After graduation, Gladys joined her family members who had moved north, first in Buffalo, New York, and then most of the family relocated to Cleveland, Ohio.  Once there, she and her siblings worked with their father, Papa, in their family business, the O.K. Cleaners on East 105th Street in Cleveland’s Glenville neighborhood.

Gladys eventually met and was wedded in Holy Matrimony to Clifford N. Robinson in 1950.  A few years later, the young couple was excited to welcome their first child, a baby girl named Susan.  However, the Lord wanted to keep her as a beautiful flower in his garden, so Gladys and Clifford cherished their brief memories of her.  Their second child, another beautiful girl who they named Kim, became the apple of their eyes!  They made a happy home with an extended Robinson family on South Boulevard.  Being the devoted wife that she was, Gladys deeply felt the loss of Clifford when he passed away at a young age.  However, she maintained a close relationship with her in-laws, Lottie and Eddie Robinson.  Having lost her own mother at such a young age, Gladys was grateful for the kind and loving Lottie, who became like a mother to her.

Gladys was later remarried to Edward J. Scott in 1963, and to that union, a son, Damon, was born.  From that point forward, Gladys was a loving, caring, and doting mother to her two children, for whom she sacrificed very much.  She made sure they were well educated, introduced to travel at a young age, were well-mannered and respectful, and had as much fun as possible during their childhood.  

Gladys spent her professional career in social services throughout the Greater Cleveland area, first with Children and Family Services, then with the Center for Human Services, and finally with the Cuyahoga County Department of Human Services, from which she retired in 1998.  Determined to remain active after retirement, she registered with the Retired Seniors Volunteer Program (RSVP).   Once in the program, Gladys decided to tutor primary school students in reading at Adlai Stevenson Elementary School in Cleveland, where both her children had attended years earlier.  She tutored for eleven years until her health no longer permitted her to do so.

When she was not working or spending time with her family, Gladys had two favorite pastimes . . . playing poker and slot machines!  She learned the art of playing poker with her siblings, father, and step mother.  The family was known to gather for hours, sitting around each other’s dining room tables, kitchen tables, poker tables . . . any kind of table, with cards in hand and stacks of poker chips in front of them!  Their legendary games, which took place in Selma, Buffalo, and Cleveland, were known to last through the night and sometimes ended with daylight peeking through the windows!

Gladys and some of her siblings eventually graduated from family poker games to casino slot machines.  When the first casinos opened in Atlantic City in 1978, Gladys joined several of her work colleagues boarding a chartered bus in Cleveland bound for the Boardwalk.  She later lovingly joked with Kim and Damon that she had spent most of her allotted budget for the trip before the group had checked into the hotel!  But that was only her first casino bus trip; she would eventually travel to casinos in Michigan, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and New York enjoying some free time pulling the handles of many a slot machine!  After retirement, she was happy to travel to Las Vegas and try out her slot machine skills in the “big leagues.”  Gladys also loved listening to music, as well as shopping for the latest fashions in clothing, shoes, and handbags.

In 2007, Gladys was diagnosed with dementia.  Despite this challenge, she was determined to continue enjoying life, which she did for several more years.  As a result, her children made sure she would be able to remain in her own home on Invermere Avenue in Cleveland’s Lee-Harvard neighborhood, where she had lived since 1962.  

Gladys was preceded in death by her baby daughter Susan, as well as seven of her siblings: Nadine Jackson, Thelma Gardner, Harvey, Jr., Sammye Williams, Gurther Woods, Glennie, and Arthur.

On Thursday, January 28, 2021, Gladys’ family was Blessed to celebrate her 93rd birthday . . . and a life well lived!  And then, early on the morning of Monday, February 15, 2021, the Lord, our God, reached His loving hand down from Heaven and guided Gladys’ soul as she stepped out of time and into eternal rest and peace . . . .

Gladys is survived by her two loving, devoted, and dedicated children, daughter Kim Robinson, and son Damon Scott, both of Cleveland, Ohio; one sister, Dorothy Jackson Brown of Selma, Alabama; childhood best friend, Dorothy Lockett Gardner of Selma Alabama; close friends and next door neighbors of over 58 years, Arthur and Annie Steven, plus a host of nieces, nephews, and other family, friends, and former colleagues.

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