Senate Resolution 9

(As Adopted by Senate)

A RESOLUTION COMMENDING THE LIFE AND WITNESS OF MRS. GLORIA "GLO" THAMES BOTTOM, AND EXPRESSING THE SYMPATHY OF THE LEGISLATURE.

WHEREAS, Gloria Thames "Glo" Bottom died Tuesday, October 26, 2004, at the age of 93; and

WHEREAS, Mrs. Bottom was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi. She was a founding charter member of the Vicksburg Theatre Guild and was an original "can-can cutie" in the melodrama "Gold in the Hills." She was cast as the lead in "Holiday," the first three-act play performed by the theater group. She also directed plays. She was an officer in the Vicksburg Book Club and was a member of the League of Women Voters; and

WHEREAS, Mrs. Bottom was a member of the Church of the Holy Trinity, where she taught Sunday School, led the Episcopal Young Churchmen, served as President of the Episcopal Church Women and became the first woman to be elected as a member of the Vestry. She was in Cursillo at the Diocesan level and served as President of the Episcopal Church Women of Mississippi. She was also the first woman to serve on the Diocesan Executive and Diocesan Standing Committees and to serve as a delegate to the Episcopal General Convention and was the oldest Episcopalian in the Diocese of Mississippi to take the four-year Education for Ministry Course through the University of the South and near the end of her life, she authored "A Thankful and Joyful Heart," which was published by the Episcopal Church nationwide; and

WHEREAS, nationally, she served on the Standing Commission on World Missions and voted in the General Convention of 1976 that authorized the ordination of women in the Episcopal Church. She was a member of the Stewardship Committee of Christ Church in Lake Oswego, Oregon, where she had been a resident for the past eight years; and

WHEREAS, she was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Admiral John T. Bottom, her parents, two sisters and a brother. She is survived by a son, John T. Bottom III, daughter-in-law, Julie Bottom, and granddaughter, Sophie Rose Bottom, of Lake Oswego, Oregon; nephews, including Kenneth A. Wright of Lake Bluff, Illinois, and Lee Davis Thames of Vicksburg, Mississippi; and other relatives; and

WHEREAS, it is with sadness that we note the passing of this individual who was an icon of the arts in the City of Vicksburg, Mississippi:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That we do hereby commend the life of Mrs. Gloria "Glo" Thames Bottom, founder of the Vicksburg Theatre Guild and original cast member of the Vicksburg melodrama "Gold in the Hills," and extend to her surviving family the sympathy of the Legislature on her passing.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to the family of Mrs. Gloria Bottom and be made available to the Capitol Press Corps.