Glenda Till Obituary

Glenda C. Till
FAYETTEVILLE, NC - Glenda C. Till of Fayetteville died at her home Friday, May 15, 2015, after a valiant, year-long fight against a vicious and debilitating cancer at the Duke Cancer Center.
She was born at Rex Hospital in Raleigh on Dec. 16, 1942, to the late Rev. Ralph Lee Cannon and Martha Yarborough Cannon. She was preceded in death by her parents; and two brothers, Ralph and Steve Cannon.
She is survived by her husband of 49 years, Frank; daughters, Sharyn Till O'Briant (Tim) of Aiken, S.C., and Martha Till Cade (Joseph) of Fayetteville; two grandsons, Colin and Brendan O'Briant; three granddaughters, Julianna, Lilly and Catherine Cade; as well as six nieces, two nephews, eight great-nieces and five great-nephews.
Glenda graduated from Gray High School in Winston-Salem in 1960 (now N.C. School of the Arts) and Wake Forest College in 1964. She met her husband, Frank, in a history class at Wake Forest in 1961. Glenda was a member of the Wake Forest Choir and the Spring Touring Choir. While at Wake Forest, they were both good friends of the late Brian Piccolo and his fiance;, Joy.
Glenda subsequently earned a M.A. in family counseling from the University of Texas and an M.A. in guidance counseling from Campbell University.
Glenda and Frank were married by her father in a military wedding July 31, 1965, at Southside Baptist Church in Winston-Salem while Frank was home on a seven-day compassionate leave serving with the 18th Airborne Corps during Operation Power Pack in the Dominican Republic. During Frank's Army career, they were stationed at Fort Bragg; Fort Benning, Ga.; Omaha, Neb.; Hilo, Hawaii; Fort Carson, Colo.; Fort Greeley, Ark.; Fort Hood, Texas; and Fort Bragg, where Frank retired in 1983.
Glenda had a successful career in education. Starting in 1965, she taught English at Fayetteville Senior High/Terry Sanford/Cape Fear High School and The Fayetteville Academy. Thirty years later, the Academy continues the summer reading program she initiated as English Department chair. She was a guidance counselor at Anne Chesnutt Middle School and Southview Senior High School and Terry Sanford High School before she and Frank retired the same day (June 30, 2003). Glenda was the Tech Prep coordinator for Cumberland County schools and Fayetteville Technical Community College.
Besides her family, music and travel were a passion in Glenda's life. She had a beautiful voice and sang in several church choirs over many years. Her travels took her to five continents and more than two dozen countries, including Australia, Bali, Russia, the United Kingdom and crossing the Panama Canal from the Pacific to the Atlantic. In the last 30 years, Glenda and Frank made a number of trips back to the Big Island of Hawaii to visit life-long friends.
The family will receive friends from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 19, 2015, at Jernigan-Warren Funeral Home in Fayetteville. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, May 20, 2015, at Haymount United Methodist Church.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Children's Home Society of New Jersey, 635 S. Clinton Ave., Trenton, NJ 08611; The CARE Clinic, 239 Robeson St., Fayetteville, NC 28301; or the Till Scholarship at The Fayetteville Academy, 3200 Cliffdale Road, Fayetteville, NC 28303.
Jernigan Warren Funeral Home 545 Ramsey Street, Fayetteville, NC 28301, (910) 483-1331