Gertrude "Trudy" Serby Gildea

TRUDY GILDEA

Gertrude Ellen "Trudy" Serby Gildea, age 93, passed away peacefully in her home at Twelve Gables in Columbus, MS on July 26th, 2023. A celebration of life service will be held Saturday, August 5th, 2023 at Memorial Gunter Peel Funeral Home & Crematory Chapel at 2:00 pm, with visitation held one hour prior at the funeral home. An Internment service will be held at Druid Ridge Cemetery in Baltimore, MD.

Mrs. Gildea, born in Syracuse, NY October 11th 1929, was the youngest of five children of Myron William Serby and Mae Kaplan Serby. Graduating from Bronxville High School in Bronxville, NY. She worked for a year at Eastman-Kodak prior to attending Cornell University (Ithaca, NY) earning her B.S. degree in Home Economics in 1952, on the same day she married Ray Y. Gildea, Jr. She also received her M.A. degree in English from MUW (MSCW) in 1968, thus becoming a "Golden Girl" from the "W" in 2018.

After moving to Columbus, MS in 1962, Mrs. Gildea worked as a Reading Teacher at the Demonstration School. She taught violin lessons and was active in a wide range of volunteer and civic activities, including the Columbus Arts Council, First United Methodist Church, Friends of the Library, MUW Faculty Wives Club, Tennessee-Williams Festival and was a co-founder of the Starkville Symphony Orchestra in 1968. The daughter of a suffragette, she was active in a number of state and national organizations including the non-partisan League of Women Voters where she advocated citizen involvement in public affairs. For over 30 years, she opened her antebellum home known as Twelve Gables for annual participation in the Columbus Pilgrimage.

Mrs. Gildea, known to her students as "Ms. Trudy", started the Columbus Suzuki String Program in 1980 and taught two generations of Columbus musicians to play the violin. Mrs. Gildea played violin in community orchestras herself over a 60 year period. Her awards include receiving the 1988 Book of Golden Deeds Award from the Exchange Club of Columbus, a lifetime achievement award from the Columbus Arts Council and recognition from the MS Senate in 2017 for her work with the Columbus Suzuki String Program and their Carnegie Hall trip.

Survivors include: One daughter: Patricia Mae Gildea, Byhalia MS. Three sons: Ray Myron Gildea, Madison MS, Brian William Gildea, Columbus MS, Barry Yeakle Gildea, Memphis TN. Nine grandchildren: Hannah Teresa Gildea, Juliana Clytee Gildea, Mathew Emory Long, Patrick Gildea Long, Dorothy Fownes Long, Trevor Ryan Andrews Gildea, Elizabeth Jake Gildea, William Wells (Liam) Gildea, Lionel Michael Karpovich Gildea and three great grandchildren.

Memorials may be made to: Columbus Arts Council, P.O. Box 869, Columbus MS 39701.

The celebration of life service for Mrs. Trudy Gildea will be livestreamed at

https://event.forgetmenotceremonies.com/ceremony?c=3ecfd484-06e7-4d20-acb6-6a9554c10b98

The livestream will begin shortly before 2:00pm.