Services set for first woman member of hospital board

GAINESVILLE - Graveside services will be held Monday for the woman who was the first female member of what is now the authority that oversees Northeast Georgia Medical Center.<br> <br> Gladys Garner died Friday at the age of 100 at the medical center following a lengthy illness.<br> <br> She will be buried Monday at 11:00 at Alta Vista Cemetery. (See obituary elsewhere on this site.)<br> <br> Garner, in 1949, was named to the Hospital Authority of the Hall County Hospital (now Northeast Georgia Medical Center) - the first woman to sit on that board. She served on the authority until 1961 and also chaired the committee that founded the Hospital Auxiliary.<br> <br> She was the wife of the late Walter Raleigh Garner, who practiced medicine in Gainesville for 42 years.<br> <br> In addition to her long commitment to the hospital, she was one of the first Girl Scout Council presidents. She taught Sunday School at First Methodist Church for 25 years and was president of the Methodist Missionary Society of Christian Service. She was one of the first women to serve on the church's Board of Stewards. She was also one of the first women to serve on the board of the Community Chest (now United Way).