Gladys Sobotka, 100, died Monday, August 9, 2010 in Westview Health Care Center.

Mrs. Sobotka was born on a farm near Riverton, Nebraska, on January 7, 1910, the daughter of Everett and Alta Melvina (Dale) Hamilton, the eldest of four children. Named Julia Gladys, she always preferred to be called Gladys.

Before her first birthday, she and her parents moved to a homestead near Yuma, Colorado, where she attended her first year of school. Her father’s health forced the family to move to a farm in northern Missouri. She graduated from high school in Cainsville, Missouri, in 1929, and followed when the family moved to the Pumpkin Buttes area south of Gillette. There she and Ralph W. Sobotka married in 1930 and then returned to farming in Missouri. The couple became parents of four daughters. Mr. Sobotka died in 1941.

Following World War II, Mrs. Sobotka moved her family to Sheridan where her sister, Glada (Mrs. Orville) Cornelius lived. Mrs. Sobotka became a cook at Sheridan Memorial Hospital and retired from that work in 1975 after 27 years. Her home has been in Story, Wyoming, since 1966. Grace Chapel, Story, was her church home but she was also a member of First United Methodist Church in Sheridan.

Among her greatest joys were family gatherings. She loved flower gardening as long as she was able. Listening to her granddaughter, Connie Thompson, read the Bible was a favorite with her. She made many quilts and afghans, doilies and other crocheted items for her family, and in later years, hundreds of crocheted potholders.

Mrs. Sobotka was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; brothers William Dale Hamilton, and Doyle E. Hamilton; sons-in-law M. Ray Morris, and Raymond Keith Tibbets; grandchildren, Sharon Tibbets Bender, and Scott B. Hill; and great grandchildren, Shane Stanfield, and infant Ann Wilson.

She is survived by her daughters, Alta Rose Hill, and husband, Gail, of Sheridan, Wyoming, Nina Elizabeth Morris, of Mesa, Arizona, Vera June Metzger, and husband, Gerald, of Story, Wyoming, Verna Jean Tibbets, of Casper, Wyoming; her sister, Glada Cornelius; of Spruce Grove, Alberta; sisters-in-law Harriet Hamilton, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and Leonore Sobotka, of Bethany, Missouri; 12 grandchildren, 2 of whom are deceased; 20 great grandchildren; and 11 great, great grandchildren with another expected in September; numerous nieces and nephews; and numerous great nieces and nephews..

Visitation for Mrs. Sobotka will be from 5:00 P. M. to 7:00 P. M. Sunday, August 15, 2010 at Champion Ferries Funeral Home. Funeral service will be 10:00 A. M. Monday, August 16, 2010 at Champion Ferries Funeral Home with Charles Dill officiating. Interment will be in the Sheridan Municipal Cemetery. The United Methodist Church Women will provide a lunch for attendees at First United Methodist Church, 215 W. Works St., Sheridan, Wyoming.

Memorials in memory of Mrs. Sobotka may benefit Grace Chapel, P. O. Box 55, Story, Wyoming, 82842, First United Methodist Church, 215 W. Works St., Sheridan, Wyoming, 82801, or the charity of the donor’s choice.

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