Gladys E. Henderson, 80, formerly of 432 Glenn Ave., died Tuesday at Carthage Area Hospital. She had resided at Country Manor Nursing and Rehabilitation Centre, Carthage, since October 2006.

Mrs. Henderson retired from Jefferson County Department of Social Services and was known as a writer.

Born Jan. 17, 1928, at Black River, daughter of Lynn B. and Ina M. Carey Scott, she attended Carthage High School.

She worked in the laundry department at Pine Camp from 1944 to 1946 and at Gilbert's Laundry Service, Carthage, from 1947 to 1950.

She married Vern V. Leeder on May 4, 1947, at Black River Baptist Church with the Rev. Delbert "Budd" Krooswyk officiating. The couple resided in Carthage, where Mr. Leeder had worked for New York Central Railroad for several years. He was killed in a hunting accident Oct. 25, 1950, near Harrisville.

After Mr. Leeder's death, she was a production worker at Crown Zellerbach, Carthage, which later became James River Corp.

She married Donald E. Florentine of Watertown on June 7, 1952, at Plattsburgh. The marriage was annulled in 1957. She then moved to Syracuse, working at various laundry services until 1962.

She married William L. Henderson of Marietta on May 7, 1962, in Toledo, Ohio. They resided for a year in Syracuse, where she worked in the circulation department of the Post-Standard. The marriage ended in divorce in 1979.

Mrs. Henderson returned to the Carthage area in 1967 and was employed by the Methodist Church and Carthage Elementary School, doing secretarial work and as a lunch monitor. Later that year, she returned to Syracuse, where she was a secretary-receptionist at Delavan Warehouse Center and then attended Pauldine's School of Cosmetology, graduating in 1970.

She returned to Black River in 1970 and owned and operated Shady Pines Beauty Shoppe until 1974. She continued working as a cosmetologist, making house calls until 1985.

Mrs. Henderson received an associate degree in criminal justice from Jefferson Community College in 1977 and a bachelor's degree in public justice from SUNY Oswego in 1979.

She was a typist for the state Department of Environmental Conservation in 1979 and was a social welfare examiner for the Jefferson County DSS from 1980 until retiring in 1990. She resided in Watertown and was a Sunday school teacher at Watertown Baptist Church on Black River Road for several years.

Mrs. Henderson enjoyed writing letters to the editor and poems, several of which were published in poetry anthologies. She was a distinguished member of the International Society of Poets and a member of AARP, the Library of Congress, Black River Valley Writers Club, 4 River Valleys Historical Society and Gouverneur Senior Citizens Club.

She received many outstanding achievement awards and several editor's choice awards from the National Library of Poetry, Iliad Press and the National Authors Registry and was selected for inclusion in the 1995 Edition of Who's Who in New Poets.

She won the International Society of Poets Merit Award in 1995 for her poem "V-J Day Memories" and received a certificate as a member in good standing for the 1995-96 year, recognizing her support of the society's principles of peace, education, accomplishments, charity and equity. She also received the 2000 President's Award for Literary Excellence from Iliad Press and the National Authors Registry for her essay "Transplanted Roots."

Among her survivors are a daughter and her husband, Linda and Darrell McCarthy, Black River; a son, Thomas Leeder, Carthage; three brothers and two sisters-in-law, Grant B. and Marcia Scott, Kirkville, Justin L. Scott, Canandaigua, and Allen J. and Charlotte Scott, Harrisville; two grandchildren, two great-grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.

A sister, Bonnie Copley Carfo Arlio Mason, and two brothers, Frederick J. and Craig O. Scott, died before her.

The funeral will be at noon Friday at Hart & Bruce Funeral Home. Burial will be in Black River Cemetery. Calling hours will be from 10 a.m. to noon Friday atthe funeral home.