Gladys Foster

Gladys Blanche Parker Foster, age 99, of Viroqua, Wisconsin, passed away peacefully at 3:00 am Thursday morning April 8, 2021. She was born on December 23, 1921, to the late Maude and Floyd Parker on a farm in the middle of the South Dakota prairie, near Eagle Butte. Gladys remembered being grateful that they always had enough to eat during the depression because of the farm. This farm where Gladys grew up was part of the Cheyenne River Reservation, where Congress had decided to allow white settlers to homestead a few years before her birth. We owe the first inhabitants a debt. Gladys went to grade school in the one-room Soliday schoolhouse nearby, and to high school in Eagle Butte. The students there stayed in a dorm because travel was difficult. Gladys remembered this as a lot of fun. She attended the (then) Spearfish Teacher’s College (where also the dorms were apparently a lot of fun), and then taught briefly. WWII came, and Gladys volunteered for the WAVES (Navy), teaching instrument panel navigation to pilots using a Link Trainer. She was proud of her service. Gladys loved learning, and the GI Bill gave her a great opportunity, which she took full advantage of. She became interested in economics, and studied in Paris for a year. Back in the States, she took classes from and finally married an economics professor named J. Fagg Foster. He took a job in Denver, and there they raised three children: Lynn, Lee, and Bill. This was the 50’s, and Gladys, always wanting to do the right thing, stayed home and raised them to the best of her ability, instilling her love of learning. She was also always interested in politics, becoming the state president of the League of Women Voters, a member of the State Board of Education, and Denver chair of the Gray Panthers, among other things. As the kids got older, she taught part time at various colleges in the Denver area. She ran for local county commissioner, but lost. She was always an inspiration to the women and girls who knew her well. Her husband retired and became ill, and she took care of him for 10 years until his death in 1985. After his death, she finally earned her Ph.D. in economics at age 64, still on the GI Bill. She worked hard for universal health care, free public education for everyone from Head Start through college, internet access for all young people, and a universal basic income. When not studying or doing political work, and free of family obligations, she did a lot of traveling all over the world, with friends or tours. In her words, “In my retirement I write about economics and politics and cause as much trouble as I can. My goal in life? To learn as much as possible about the human condition before I die, and to have fun writing and talking about it along the way.” In her later years, she struggled with low vision and dementia, moving to independent, then assisted living, near her children. She remained her feisty self, while still not wanting to cause trouble to anyone around her. At the time of her death, she was a resident of Bethel Oaks Memory Care unit. Gladys is survived by her 3 children and 3 grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her five siblings and her many cousins. She will be buried in Viroqua Cemetery on Thursday, April 15 with a small quiet ceremony. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Fair Fight organization (founded by Stacy Abrams) (https://fairfight.com/about-fair-fight/), Citizen Action of Wisconsin (https://www.citizenactionwi.org/), or any organization dedicated to greater democracy and fairness in the United States. Vosseteig-Larson Funeral Home is serving Gladys's family. 123 W. Decker Street Viroqua, WI 54665 (608) 637-2100