Rock star Elvis Presley’s mother was born on April 25, 1912 in Pontotoc County, Mississippi.
Gladys Presley was born – the daughter of Robert Lee Smith and Octavia Luvenia Mansell Smith – on April 25, 1912 in Pontotoc County, Mississippi, USA. Elvis Presley’s mother died on August 14, 1958 at the age of 46 in Memphis, Tennessee.
Family and childhood
Glady’s mother Octavia Luvenia “Doll” Mansell gave birth to 9 children (5 are known by name). She was bedridden for most of her life and died of tuberculosis at the age of 59. Father Robert Lee Smith was a cotton farmer and occasionally took odd jobs to support his large family. In his mid-fifties, Lee dies unexpectedly of pneumonia, leaving behind 19-year-old Gladys, who from then on has to work as a seamstress in Tupelo, Mississippi, to support the family.
On January 8, 1935, labor began to increase and the first child, Jessen Garon, was born. Since the infant is not breathing, attempts are made to resuscitate it without success. Little Jesse is dead. A short time later, little Elvis sees the light of day. He is very healthy and will be the center of Gladys Presley’s life in the years to come.
Husband Vernon Presley returns to the family in 1939 after serving a prison sentence for counterfeiting checks. During this time, an even deeper bond develops between Gladys and her son Elvis. When Vernon keeps losing his jobs, the Presley family decides to start a new life in the vibrant and up-and-coming southern metropolis of Memphis. However, every beginning is difficult and so the family moves into several cheap apartments or social housing.
When Elvis Presley made his big breakthrough in 1954, the financial situation also eased. The first home on Audubon Drive in Memphis is available for purchase and Gladys receives a pink Cadillac from her son, even though she did not have a driver’s license. The purchase of the Graceland property in the spring of 1957 made the entire family proud.
In the summer of 1958, Gladys Presley fell ill with hepatitis. Elvis, who was doing basic military training in Texas at the time, travels to his mother’s bedside. On August 14, 1958, Gladys died in the Methodist Hospital in Memphis of a heart attack caused by severe hepatitis. She is buried in Forest Hill Cemetery
The headstone of Gladys Presley was designed by Elvis – with the words “Sunshine of Our Home”. After her coffin was moved to Graceland, the stone was put into storage. When the anniversary of Elvis mother’s death was celebrated on August 14, 2018, the stone was set up in the meditation garden of the Elvis Villa and can be viewed.