By Cathy Miller

In memory of their mother, Gladys, the Donnelly family of Warren County (also Morris County, Maine, California, and Washington) arranged a donation of $10,000 to the Warren County Library’s “Best Loved Children’s Books” Replacement Program. On June 29, representatives from the family presented the gift at the Headquarters Branch on Shotwell Drive in Belvidere. The funds are earmarked for the purchase of replacement children’s books, which will be on the shelves of the main library and all the branches for years to come. Each tome will bear a commemorative plate reading, “A gift in loving memory of Gladys Donnelly to the children of Warren County.”

Maureen Wilkinson, library director, and Jennifer Sidie, Headquarters branch manager, were on hand to accept the “giant” $10,000 check from five of Gladys’s ten children: Thomas Donnelly, Jennifer Donnelly, Kevin Donnelly and spouse Barbara, Christopher Donnelly, and Charles Donnelly and spouse Janet Anker. The other five siblings who contributed to the gift were Anne Drumm, Christina Shallow, Do Sook Curtis, Judith Donnelly and Nicole Wolfrum. Greg and Peggy Benson, close family friends for over 50 years, also contributed.

With thanks to her family for sharing, here’s a short look back at the long and storied life of Gladys Donnelly: Born in Newark, on May 2, 1922, Gladys (Garramone) Donnelly was a child of the Depression and member of the War Generation. She earned her RN certification in 1943 and went to work as a nurse. She would have entered wartime service within the WACs (Women’s Army Corps), but for a tuberculosis spot discovered on her lung during a military medical exam X-ray. She found herself residing for her first time in the West Jersey Highlands, recuperating through 1944 and into 1945 at the state sanatorium in Glen Gardner. Gladys was a Franklin Roosevelt admirer and a lifelong proud Democrat. She was a committed and intelligent advocate of civil rights, women’s rights, and enlightened principles and thoughts. She broadened her heart and mind through decades of travel within the United States and Canada, and world-wide.
Gladys and her husband, Frank, had ten children. She loved children’s literature, poetry, and books in general. In 1954 the family moved to Rockaway where she regularly brought her children to their local public library. She read children’s books, poetry, and more to the family nightly for many years as the children grew to adulthood. Gladys came back to the Highlands in 1982 when she and Frank relocated to Oxford. She promptly made new friends, located her local library (the Belvidere main branch) and began volunteering at the Library. She served on Friends of the Library for many years, including a term as president. She always looked forward to their annual book sale, promoting it to everybody she knew, pitching in whole-heartedly year after year. Gladys was an extraordinary cook. She loved opera. But books…oh, she loved books. And poetry? From her earliest childhood memories, she very much loved poetry.

After Gladys passed away on October 31, 2017, at age ninety-five, her 10 children banded together, with long time “eleventh Donnelly” friends Greg and Peggy Benson, to assemble a meaningful gift to the Library in honor of Gladys’ legacy. Directing the $10,000 donation to children’s books was the obvious choice of the group.

It’s clear the Donnelly family feels strongly about the Warren County Library, both impressed with and respectful of the entire Library system. They’ve said in a public statement, “From its directorship on down, a multitude of committed people contribute their time, effort, and creativity to maintaining and growing the Library as a truly priceless public resource. So, in addition to the donation being motivated by a desire to appropriately honor Gladys Donnelly’s legacy, we know our group contribution is helping one of the finest public institutions of the New Jersey Highlands.”