Gladys M. Persons

Gladys Minnie Persons, age 91, of Carlisle, went home to be with her Lord and Savior, Monday, October 31, 2016.
She was born April 24, 1925, the seventh of eight children, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada to the late William James and Elsie Mae (Hayter) Northcott and was the widow of Rev. Wayne Persons who passed January 17, 2007. They had been married for 59 years.
Minnie left high school when she was 16 years old because of the need for workers in World War II. Her first job was in the office of a lumber yard. She went to the Missionary Training Institute in Nyack, NY in the fall of 1944 where she met Wayne Persons. They were both called to do missionary work in China. Minnie and Wayne married July 5, 1947 in Toronto and moved to Des Moines, IA for a short time before leaving for Shanghai, China in December 1947. They were in Shanghai until May 1948 when they moved to the West China/Tibetan border before being evacuated to Hong Kong in 1949. They then transferred to Thailand in 1950, studying Thai in Korat, Thailand and moving to Loei in northeast Thailand. During their first furlough, they divided their time between Toronto and Erie, PA and later furloughs, they lived in Nyack, NY. In 1965 they transferred to Vientiane, Laos. They worked primarily with the Hmong tribe and sometimes lived in Samthong, Laos during the height of the war. They evacuated from Laos in 1975 and moved back to Loei, Thailand where they worked with Hmong and Lao refugees until 1992 when they retired to Carlisle. Gladys was a loving, God fearing, faithful mother and will be greatly missed.
She is survived by four daughters, Bonnie Gay Kooy of Graham, NC, Joy Cutts of Gainesville, GA, Marjie L. Persons of Cleveland, OH and Debbie Persons-Lewis of Kent, CT, and one son, Larry Persons of Bangkok, Thailand; eight grandchildren, Ryan Kooy, Kara Nalee Harman, Jaime Koch, Jenna Grossman, Chelsea Lewis, Bentley Lewis, Evan Persons and Drew Blackwell; and four great-grandchildren, Alina Koch, Caitlin and Madilyn Grossman, and Milo Harman. She is also survived by a Thai member of the family, Nalee Phuphanphet, of Khon Kaen, Thailand. In addition to her parents and husband, she was preceded in death by all seven of her siblings, Roy, Marjorie, Beulah, Thomas, Bonnie, Earl and Jean.
A public viewing will be held from 1-2 p.m. on Saturday, November 12, 2016 at Hoffman Funeral Home at 2020 W. Trindle Road in Carlisle. Burial will be private. A Memorial Service will be held at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 12, 2016 at the Henry Memorial Chapel at Chapel Pointe Carlisle, 770 S. Hanover Street, Carlisle, PA with Rev. Walter Frankenberry and Rev. Steve Motter as officiants.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Chapel Pointe Benevolent Fund, 770 S. Hanover Street, Carlisle, PA 17013.
To sign the guestbook, please visit www.HoffmanFH.com