Arden J. (Weston) Glenn, who was superintendent of Catholic Schools in the Diocese of Tulsa from 1988 until she retired in 2003, died the evening of Aug. 6. Mrs. Glenn is survived by her husband, Jerry, and four children. She was 69.
A vigil service was held Aug. 10 at the Church of St. Benedict in Broken Arrow. A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated Aug. 11 at Holy Family Cathedral. There were receptions after both the prayer vigil and the funeral Mass at the respective churches.
Private family interment was Aug. 13 at Fort Gibson National Cemetery.
The family is requesting contributions to the St. Francis of Assisi Tuition Assistance Trust, c/o Diocese of Tulsa, P.O. Box 690240, Tulsa, 74169, or to the Alzheimer’s Association.
Msgr. Patrick Gaalaas, vicar general and pastor of St. Benedict’s until this past May, sent a memorandum to all priests and deacons the afternoon of Aug. 7 in which he encouraged all priests to concelebrate the funeral Mass if possible “to honor this modern-day pioneer of Catholic education in the Diocese of Tulsa.”
Bishop Edward J. Slattery was in Nashville for the National Knights of Columbus Convention when Mr. Arden notified the Chancery of his wife’s death. Upon his return, he expressed his admiration for how deeply she loved children.
“I first met Arden on the day that my appointment to Tulsa as bishop was announced, in November 1993. The announcement was at Holy Family Cathedral, and she introduced herself to me and asked if I would be strongly supportive of parochial education. Of course, I told her that I would be. She was immediately relieved, or better, elated,” the Bishop said.
“Since that first meeting, Arden and I have worked together to improve and develop our Catholic school system here in the Diocese of Tulsa. We became good friends. What I most admired about Arden was her love for children and her eagerness to nourish them in the Catholic faith.”
In his memo, Msgr. Gaalaas recalled that when he became chancellor in 1991, Joseph Burns, who at that time served as the Diocese’s financial administrator, “told me that Arden Glenn was one of the Chancery ‘superstars.’
“By that he meant that she was worth her weight in gold. In the judgment of, I would guess, all who worked with her, Mr. Burns was exactly right,” the vicar general said.
For the past several years, Mrs. Glenn has lived at Franciscan Villa and was a victim of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. “She will be greatly missed and, of course, by none more than Jerry, who visited her every day,” Msgr. Gaalaas said. “Please remember Arden and her family in your prayers.”
Born Dec. 23, 1937 in Lawrence, KS, to the late Genevieve (Jean) Bowen and James A. Weston, she graduated in 1955 as class valedictorian from Blue Springs High School. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Kansas and a master’s and doctorate in education from the University of Tulsa.
She married Joseph G. “Jerry” Glenn in Lawrence, where she taught for one year, and in 1960 the couple moved to Tulsa and then to Broken Arrow in 1971.
From 1963-68, she taught at Tulsa’s St. John Vianney School and Home for Girls (now St. Bernard Church), in the Broken Arrow Public Schools from 1970-76, where she co-developed and introduced elementary school counseling programs and was a teaching assistant and doctoral student at TU.
From 1977-81 Mrs. Glenn was director of an innovative education grant program in Broken Arrow and taught severely emotionally disturbed teens in a self-contained classroom.
She was principal of All Saints School in Broken Arrow from 1981-84; in 1984-85, Mrs. Glenn was coordinator for the Broken Arrow Public Schools alternative education programs, concentrating on reducing truancy and coordinating school and community services.
Her career took a new twist when she was constituent representative for U.S. Sen. Don Nickles in 1987 to 1988 both in his Tulsa and Washington D.C. offices, but she returned to education in 1988, when she served as assistant superintendent and then superintendent of Catholic schools from 1988 until her retirement in 2003.
Mrs. Glenn was a recipient of the LaSallian award for distinguished service from the Christian Brothers and was inducted into the Bishop Kelley High School Hall of Fame. She also was honored as teacher of the year by the Broken Arrow Public Schools and at the Oklahoma State Fair in 1980.
Survivors include loving husband, Jerry, of the home; sons Thomas and wife Shelbi and grandsons Ryan and Jackson of Tulsa; David and wife Susie and grandchildren Kendra, Michelle and Matthew of Portland, Ore.; Brian and wife Melissa and granddaughter Sarah of San Antonio; daughter Jeannene of Santa Fe, N.M.; brother, A.J. “Corky” Weston of Kansas City; nieces, nephews and cousins.
“She was a faith-filled person of class,” said Superintendent Todd Goldsmith, who knew his predecessor for 13 years.
“My own remembrances of Arden would include her constant cheerfulness and the sense of almost effortless professionalism that you got from talking with her,” said Father James White, Diocese of Tulsa historian and archivist. “She was a delightful woman.”
Msgr. Dennis Dorney, who served as vicar general and was chaplain of St. Pius X School and School of Saint Mary during Mrs. Glenn’s tenure, echoed those sentiments.
“In the many years that I worked with Arden for the Diocese, her faith and her love for Catholic education were always evident. She was always polite and considerate of others and their opinions,” he said.
“At the same time, she had a vision of what our schools could be, and she worked tirelessly and creatively in helping us understand and implement that vision. I have no doubt that as she meets the Lord, He will say to her, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.’”
