Janice Adeleide Glover

Born on December 27, 1936, Sister Glover was the first daughter and third child born to the late Merle H. Broaddus and Ada Williams Broaddus. She grew up in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley in Luray, Virginia. She spent most of her early years trailing behind her two older brothers, Edward and Melvin. Consequently, she became a regular tomboy competing against boys and winning games that were then traditionally reserved for males: tossing horseshoes, target shooting, playing marbles, softball, basketball, skipping rocks across ponds, and trick riding on bicycles. She became an avid and successful bowler in the early ‘60s, traveling across the country to compete in various tournaments. Her house was filled with trophies.

In her formative years, her mother insisted that the family become active in a variety of church activities, particularly Sunday School and the Baptist Youth Training Union. At the age of ten, Janice was baptized and became a member of the Bethel Baptist Church. The church was the center of the family’s life, and there was never an option to miss church whenever services were held, including Wednesday night Prayer Meetings.

Janice’s childhood of mostly play ended abruptly when her father died suddenly after a brief illness in 1943. It was then that her mother had to secure employment outside of the home, sometimes working three jobs to keep the family afloat. Janice was assigned grownup responsibilities such as caring for her two younger sisters, Merlyn and Mary Ann, housecleaning, cooking and putting the two younger ones to bed at night. As a result of having so many responsibilities thrust upon her at an early age, by the time she was in high school, she was far more mature than most of her peers. In spite of her busy personal life, she excelled academically and was a superb athlete. She graduated from Jenny Dean Boarding High School in Manassas, Virginia as Salutatorian in 1955. She had been shipped off to boarding school because, at that time, there was not an accredited high school in Luray for children of color. Upon graduating, she relocated to Washington DC to join her two brothers and to attend DC Teachers’ College.

As she learned to navigate around the city, she frequently met Rev. Anderson as he strolled through the neighborhood. He asked where she was from and invited her to come to Mt. Pleasant. She started attending services regularly in 1956 and decided to join in 1957. During the course of her 66 years of church membership, she served in many capacities. She taught the Women’s Sunday School Class; worked with Deacons Kelly, Pinder and English teaching the New Members’ Orientation Classes; taught VBS classes; served as Vice Chair of the Senior Citizens’ Ministry under Deacon Berkeley and succeeded him when he stepped down; succeeded the late Sister Marion S. Williams as leader of the Senior Citizens’ Bible Class in 2008; and, from 1993 until 2018, when her health began to deteriorate, she worked as an assistant secretary in the church office. Always being a forward looking individual, Sister Glover sought approval from Pastor Streeter to ensure that the Senior Ministry would be left with superior leadership upon her departure. Consequently, she recruited Sister Jacquelyn Braswell to be her successor.

In 1962, she married Jerry Jerome Glover, the love of her life. After 15 years of marriage, he sadly passed away in 1977. Having no children of her own, she filled her life with assisting in raising her nieces and nephews. She offered volunteer service to the church, which eventually led to her working at the church fulltime. She even purchased her first van so that she could bring more seniors to the Wednesday Bible Class.

The US Postal Service was where she spent the majority of her working years. She entered the service as a career employee and steadily rose through the ranks, eventually becoming a STS Qualified Training Instructor for LSM Operations. After 30 years of service, she retired in 1992 as a General Foreman.

She was preceded in death by her parents, both brothers, Edward and Melvin, and one sister, Merlyn. She leaves to mourn their loss, her devoted sister, Mary Ann Brooking (Daniel); three nephews, David Brooking, Leon Vaaltyn and Kevin Maloy; two nieces, Dr. Rhea Brooking Dixon (Jason) and April Fitzgerald (James); great nieces Kira Dixon, Whitney Chucoski (TJ), Jasmine, and Jada Fitzgerald; two aunts, Inez Veney of Maricopa, Arizona and Lucy Hunter of Erie, Pennsylvania; a special friend and co-worker, Claude Wright; the Thompson and Carr extended families; and numerous cousins and friends.