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Morvene Wahlquist Gladin, 88, died on Mother’s Day, May 11, 2008, at Brookshire Nursing Center in Hillsborough, N.C., after a long illness.

She was born in Mammoth Spring, the daughter of William Bryan and Joann Long Wahlquist. The Wahlquist Family owned newspapers across Arkansas and Missouri, including the Wynne Progress, Phillips County Herald in Helena, Nevada County Picayune in Prescott, the Pike County Courier in Murfreesboro, the Marvel Herald, the Woodruff County Free Press in Augusta and the Mammoth Spring Democrat.

As a teenager, Morvene set type at the Mammoth Spring newspaper office. Later she was a photographer and writer for the Twin City Tribune in West Helena.

In 1940 she married Ivey Stephen Gladin just before he left to serve in the U.S. Navy during World War II. When he returned, they settled in Helena. Together they operated Gladin’s Studio of Photography. The couple raised their two daughters, Sharon and Susan, in their big, Civil War-era house on Porter Street.

Morvene was an antiques collector and a stylish woman, engaged in the life of the community. She served with the American Cancer Society, as a member and president of Altrusa International, as an active member of First United Methodist Church of Helena, as an ambassador for the Chamber of Commerce and as a member of the American Legion Auxiliary.

Morvene was preceded in death by her parents; her beloved husband of 61 years, Ivey; a sister, Peggy Jean Wahlquist; and a brother, Joe Bryan Wahlquist, who died in infancy.

Survivors include her sister, Judy Louise Wahlquist Hoover of Hot Springs; daughter, Sharon Gladin Williams; son-in-law Gates Williams; grandsons, H.G. “Tres” Williams III and Christopher Brandon Williams, all of Little Rock; daughter, Susan Elizabeth Gladin and son-in-law, Peter Kramer, of Hillsborough; and granddaughters, Jessica Gladin-Kramer of Cambridge, Mass., and Amanda Gladin-Kramer, of Durham, N.C.

Please make memorial contributions to Altrusa International (www.altrusa.com; 332 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 1123, Chicago, IL 60604).

Services will be held at a later date in Helena.

Arrangements are by the Cremation Society of the Carolinas (www.cremnc.ciom).