After
ten weeks Elvis was granted a weekend pass. Immediately RCA took the
opportunity to have Elvis taken to Nashville for a recording session
that resulted in several major hits.
Elvis' main concern was his mother. It was obvious that Gladys was
unwell, and admitted to Methodist hospital. Four days later, hepatitis
was diagnosed. Elvis reluctantly returned to Army camp.
By August her condition had deteriorated so badly that Elvis was given
compassionate leave to begin a 24 hours hour vigil with his father. On
the night of August 14, Vernon sent Elvis home for same much needed
rest. At 3am the phone rang and Elvis was told that his precious mother
had died of a heart attack brought on by the hepatitis. In shock and
disbelief Elvis rushed to the hospital.
After Elvis entered his mother ward and the door closed, witnesses
remember a piercing wild despair of wails from Elvis were heard as he
wept and prayed long and loud over his mother’s lifeless body.
Elvis didn't want an autopsy instead had her lie in state at
Graceland. For two days Elvis just sat next to the coffin and just
stared at his mother. Finally on the second night Vernon insisted that
Gladys be buried. Elvis walked out to the front steps of Graceland and
wept. The service at the Memphis Funeral Home was officiated by
Reverend James Hamill and the Blackwood Brothers (Gladys, favourite
Gospel group) sang: Rock of Ages, In the Garden, I am Redeemed and
Precious Memories. Celebrities such as, Marlon Brando, Dean Martin,
Tennessee Ernie, Ricky Nelson and Sammy Davis Jr. sent their
condolences. When it came time to lower the casket into the ground
Elvis jumped up and hung on to the coffin, sobbing, "Everything I
have is gone!" It took Vernon, Lamar Fike (Memphis Mafia member
and cousin, Billy Smith to pull Elvis off the casket, while all the
while Elvis screamed hysterically, "Please don' t take my baby
away. She's not dead! She's just sleeping."
[ Due to the bizarre August
29, 1977 " break in" to steal Elvis's body - on
the evening of October 2, 1977, Elvis and his mother's bodies were
moved from their original places of burial at Forest Hill Cemetery and
reburied side by side in the grounds of Graceland in an area Elvis had
named the Meditation Garden. After Elvis' father, Vernon Elvis Presley
died on June 26, 1979 he was laid to rest next to his son.]
Many family members
re-iterated the same sentiments, that after his mother died, Elvis
changed for he never had time alone to grieve. As Fike recalls, "He
carried his mother's nightgown around for weeks... Wouldn't put it down
for anything. Slept with it and cried all the time... He didn't seem
like Elvis ever again." Four week after Gladys died, Elvis was
sailed to Germany.
Elvis
Biography as told by his Mother | Vernon
Presley's Wallet | Elvis & Gladys
| Presley
Wedding Pix
(Nancy Burdine was
married to Abner Tackett. Nancy was of particular interest to Gladys
for her Jewish heritage, often remembering Nancy's sons for their
Jewish names Sidney and Jerome. Nancy and Abner had a daughter Martha
who married White Mansell. The a daughter which they named Octavia
nick-named Doll who was Elvis' maternal grandmother. Doll and Robert
had nine children. Gladys Love was the fifth daughter born followed by
3 more brothers and one sister. Gladys' sister Clette Smith married
Vester Presley making Patsy Presley a double cousin to Elvis.
