Elizabeth B. "Beth" Gladstone, a retired public health nursing administrator for the Baltimore County Department of Health, died July 12 of myelofibrosis at her daughter's home in Southbury, Conn. She was 77 and formerly lived in Timonium and Ocean City.
The daughter of John Andrew "Jack" Bennett, a management representative in Bethlehem Steel Corp.'s industrial relations department, and Elizabeth Stewart Dail Bennett, a homemaker, the former Elizabeth Stewart Bennett was born in Baltimore and raised in Anneslie.
She was a 1956 graduate of Towson High School and earned her bachelor's degree in 1960 in nursing from the University of Maryland School of Nursing.
Mrs. Gladstone began her career in 1960 as a public health nurse for the Baltimore City Department of Health fresh out of college.
In 1972, she joined the Baltimore County Department of Health as a public health nurse and later rose to the position of public health nursing administrator, overseeing programs offering health services to county residents.
She played an instrumental role in the development of guidelines for the certification of adult day care centers, implemented health care programs for migrant workers, and was responsible for various public health centers throughout the county.
Before retiring in 1996, Mrs. Gladstone wrote a number of grant proposals to support health care for homeless people. For her efforts in this area, she was presented a National Association of County Awards for Nursing.
Her professional memberships include the American Public Health Association.
"As focused as she was in her work life, she exhibited the same intensity in her personal life. Whether it was a simple game of cards or being on the board of her Ocean City condominium, she was a force to be reckoned with," said her son, Charles Talbot "Chuck" Gladstone III of Cockeysville.
She was married in 1959 to Charles Talbot Gladstone Jr., a college classmate, who later owned and operated Mount Washington Care on Falls Road in Mount Washington.
He was also the founder of the Maryland Independent Service Station Dealers Association.
The couple lived in Parkville before moving to Timonium.
Mrs. Gladstone was a "firm believer in continued education," her son said.
"In the late 1980s, she joined me in taking master's degree classes at Johns Hopkins University. She was so competitive that we were quickly in contests for the best grades on exams or overall GPA," he said. "She was quite a competitor and would not let me outdo her."
Mrs. Gladstone also had an instinct for business, her son said, and handled all of her husband's business paperwork, including sending out invoices.
"Until the last few months of her life, she insisted on managing the family business, which involved the leasing of several properties in Mount Washington," her son said.
After permanently moving to West Ocean City in 1998 with her husband, Mrs. Gladstone participated in a program called Ocean City University, in which she learned details about the operation of all of the city's departments.
Mrs. Gladstone and her husband shared an interest in aviation and soon after he earned a private pilot's license, she attended courses and became qualified to land an airplane in an emergency.
In 1992, her husband began building a Kitfox, a single-engine kit airplane, in the basement of their Timonium home. Once he completed it, he took the plane on its initial flight in 1995 from Fallston Airport, wearing a motorcycle helmet in lieu of a regular pilot's cap.
"I remember him bringing up the wings from the basement and out the front door with only inches to spare," the couple's son told The Baltimore Sun at the time of his father's death in 2008. "He then attached them to the fuselage that was in the garage."
The couple enjoyed flying up and down the East Coast, to remote destinations in Maryland where they enjoyed lunch, or on longer weekend aviation excursions.
"Their love for aviation led to the creative naming of family pets Orville and Wilbur Wright and Amelia Earhart," her son said.
She was an active member of the Ocean City Aviation Association, assisting in its annual fly-in and sold items at local festivals for the benefit of the association.
She was a world traveler and enjoyed spending winters in Florida.
Mrs. Gladstone was an active member of Atlantic United Methodist Church, where she served on numerous committees.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at her church, 105 Fourth St., Ocean City.
In addition to her son, Mrs. Gladstone is survived by her daughter, Elizabeth Gladstone Schaake of Southbury, Conn.; and four grandchildren.