CELEBRATING THE LIFE OF MRS. EARLINE ELIZABETH GADSON
Services were held for Earline Elizabeth Gadson on Friday, June 20, 2014 at Golden Gate Funeral Home. She was the first daughter born to the union of James and Rosa Knight Gadson, on September 10, 1934, in Ocala, Florida and died June 10, 2014, at home in Dallas with her family, after a lengthy illness.
As the baby girl of a large family– her mother having been married two times previously– from the beginning there were many to pamper little Earline and she enjoyed the attention.
When she became a teenager, her parents moved the family to the Strawberry Capitol of the United States — Plant City, Florida.
A stylish dresser even as a young child, Earline was a cheerleader and an honor student at Marshall High School. Upon graduation, she bypassed college and followed her older brother, Robert, to New Jersey, where several friends from Florida were already living in Newark. The group was like a close-knit family with many of those relationships lasting over half a century.
Earline immediately went to work because she had big dreams and they included returning home to Florida one day to build her mother a house. Unfortunately shortly after Earline moved to Newark, Mrs. Rosa Knight Gadson was tragically murdered in Plant City.
Maybe it was because she met the love of her life, Joseph Smith, who ironically was also from Plant City; but following the funeral, Earline returned to Newark, where she remained before moving to East Orange.
Those who knew the couple marveled at how Earline doted over her babies: Daryl, Cheryl, Carl — who died at birth– and Tracy, who was born to her and Earl Vickers.
In their younger years she worked as a volunteer leader with a 4-H Club, bringing children together, along with hers, in Newark for projects and trips to Coney Island, Wildwood Theme Park and Atlantic City.
Earline was a devoted member of the historic New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, NJ. She worked as a dental hygienist and at Newark Airport for Delta and National Airlines. Her last job was with International Security Systems of New York and New Jersey.
She was a life member of the National Council of Negro Women and an active member of the NAACP, serving as vice president of the New Hope Baptist Church Branch in Newark, New Jersey.
In later years Earline loved going to Atlantic City for “therapy!” She especially enjoyed when her sister Annie Mae, her nephew Nathaniel and his wife Rose, and grandniece Linda would arrive from Tampa, Florida for a vacation of “therapy.”
“Mother,” as she is affectionately called, like her brothers Curtis and Eddie; loved baseball and was a fan of the Negro League, oftentimes traveling with the Newark Indians. She also loved watching the New York Yankees and the New York Mets or the New York Giants.
In November of 2012, Mother relocated to Dallas and if she wasn’t before, she became a Dallas Cowboys fan. But she never forgave Nolan Ryan for the damage he caused when the Texas Rangers played the Yankees. She became a member of Friendship-West Baptist Church, the church she had worshipped at previously during visits to Dallas.
She also found a place in Oklahoma to continue her “therapy” whenever Patsy was available for the ride!
Left to cherish her memory and lessons are her children: Daryl Smith, Cheryl Smith and Tracy Smith Thomas (Jeffrey), Grandchildren: Andre (Emma), Alayna, Annya, Ayanna, Adarian, Adonte, Jeffrey, Joelene; Great Grandchildren Aaliyah (father DeMarcus), Briana, Nina, Telly; baby brother Eddie Gadson, sister-in-law Bobbie; life-long friends Savarie Atkins and Christine Thomas; special friends Rev. Harry Brown, Eleanor Glover and Virginia Magee; daughter-in-law Hafizah; and hundreds of nieces and nephews and other relatives, NCNW and NAACP members, and friends.
A scholarship fund has been established in her name and donations can be made to the Earline Elizabeth Gadson Memorial Scholarship Fund, 320 South R.L. Thornton Freeway, Suite 220, Dallas, TX 75203.
