Glois Gay Edmonds Massey's Obituary
Glois Gay Edmonds Massey passed away peacefully on the morning of Tuesday, December 6, 2016 at the age of 87 years old. An elegant southern belle with movie star looks and a graciousness and classiness like no other woman has departed from her earthly body and is now watching over her family, countless friends, and adored neighbors in Heaven.
Mrs. Glois Massey was born in Hillsville, Virginia along the famed Blue Ridge Mountains on July 17, 1929. She was the seventh of eight children born to the late Mr. and Mrs. William Madison Edmonds of Hillsville, Virginia. She was the last surviving sibling. Upon graduating from Willis High School in 1947, Mrs. Massey attended the College of Roanoke. After living and working in Charlotte, North Carolina and Miami, Florida, she ultimately made her home in Houston, Texas in 1962.
Glois was employed as the Houston Engineering and Scientific Society’s (HESS) Executive Event Manager under the leadership of the late, legendary Houstonian Edwina Provence for many years. On one glorious day in 1962, the late Dr. John Robert Massey was planning an event at HESS and met the gorgeous woman that would become his wife. The southern gentleman from Texas met his southern lady from Virginia. The rest, they say, is history, a beautiful marriage of 48 years until Dr. Massey’s passing on September 3, 2013. Their marriage provided exemplars for every married couple.
On July 6, 1965, Glois Edmonds became Glois Massey, Dr. John Robert Massey’s bride, in Pearland, Texas in the original sanctuary of the Pearland United Methodist Church. On June 9, 1968, she became a mother to her beloved daughter Lisa Michele Massey Padget. Becoming a mother was Mrs. Massey strongest passion in life. She loved her daughter more than anything. She never gave up on her dream of becoming a mother and that dream came to fruition. Mrs. Massey was a loving mother to her daughter. She always wanted to heal every physical wound and every broken heart. She was fiercely protective of her daughter, her husband, and everybody that she loved. She never missed a school event, a ballet recital, or watching her daughter ice skate at The Galleria. Mrs. Massey was her daughter’s greatest cheerleader. She was her husband’s greatest advocate and supporter in his career especially during his time at Shell Oil and McDermott Hudson Engineering. She was always the perfect hostess to her husband’s colleagues and their wives, who became lifelong friends.
On March 4, 2000, Mrs. Massey gained the son that she never had when she became a mother-in-law to David Charles Padget.
Mrs. Massey had a wicked sense of humor that was only shared privately with some very few family members and friends. She could make you laugh, making everything better no matter how dire the situation. Throughout her married life, she hosted some of the greatest parties one has ever attended. Thanksgiving and Christmas were her favorite holidays. She was an outstanding cook, seamstress, decorator, gardener, bridge player, and was an advocate for the arts. She also enjoyed travelling all over the world with a 1997 Mediterranean cruise being her favorite trip.
She believed in giving back to her community by volunteering for and donating to the March of Dimes, the Easter Seals Society, Star of Hope, Purple Heart Veterans, The Salvation Army, Goodwill, and was a “Candy Striper Volunteer” at one of Houston’s most prestigious hospitals when she was new “mommy.” She always put others above herself, asking for nothing in return. She selflessly served as a caregiver to her own parents, her brother, and one of her older sisters in their last days. Mrs. Massey has definitely earned her place in Heaven joining her beloved husband, John.
Predeceasing her were her parents and her seven siblings, Bergen Kemp, Laurence Kemp, Delton Kemp, Joyce Edmonds Marshall, Cleo Edmonds, Christine Edmonds Dye, and Joan Edmonds Ellis.
Mrs. Massey is survived by her only child, daughter Lisa Michele Massey Padget, her son-in-law David Charles Padget, her nieces and nephews who were treated and loved as her own, all her friends throughout the country, her neighbors from the Briarmeadow subdivision in Houston where The Masseys lived for 32 years, and subsequently, her neighbors from the Tanglewest Townhomes community, also in Houston, where The Masseys lived during their retirement. Mrs. Massey was adored and will be sorely missed.
Mrs. Massey’s Christian faith was unyielding. At the time of her passing, she was a loyal, longtime member of the First United Methodist Church in downtown Houston. She started attending the First United Methodist Church when the late legendary, Dr. Charles Allen was the senior pastor. Her church membership continued under the late Dr. William Hinson, and Dr. Fende who recently retired. Mrs. Massey took on many different roles during her lifetime and was successful in all of them—a daughter, sister, aunt, “Aunt Glo,” wife, mother, mother-in-law, “Miss Glois,” friend, and neighbor. Mrs. Massey would always make comments about her unusual first name “Glois.” It was an unusual name for an extraordinary woman. “We love you so much and will miss you forever and ever.”
Arrangements have been entrusted to South Park Funeral Home and Cemetery located at 1310 North Main Street in Pearland, Texas. Mrs. Massey’s eternal resting place will be next to her beloved and cherished husband in the Massey plot. Friends are invited to a visitation with the family one hour prior to the gravesite service on Friday, December 9, 2016. Visitation will be at one o’clock in the afternoon with the gravesite service beginning at two o’clock in the afternoon.
For those that desire, the family requests that contributions be made to the American Cancer Society, 2500 Fondren Road, Suite #100, Houston, Texas 77063, specifying ovarian cancer, in memory of Mrs. Glois Edmonds Massey with gratitude and much appreciation.
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