Gladys Marie Fleckles, born April 14, 1946, was the oldest of four children of Virginia Marie and William Henry Fleckles. After graduating from a Chicago suburban high school, Fleckles worked as a staff assistant for the national buying offices of Sears, Roebuck and Company. In 1967 she went to John Brown University where she received a B.A. degree in Theology/Philosophy in 1971.

In 1972 Fleckles went to Japan as part of a short term missions project with Overseas Missionary Fellowship (OMF). Serving as Administrative Assistant in OMF's Japan headquarters located in Sapporo, her duties included creating and conducting personal development study series for Japanese housewives, afternoon workshop sessions, mini-seminars, and annual weekend conferences for missionaries.

After Fleckles' return to the States, she worked as an assistant for Dr. John Robinson of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College. Some of her projects included coordinating a training workshop for Mexican leaders and assisting in a singles weekend conference. In 1976 she began work as a staff member in the Wheaton Graduate School in addition to her graduate work in counseling. In 1980 she served as Assistant to the Director of Admissions in the Wheaton Graduate School and resided in Wheaton. She later became Director of Graduate Affairs at California State University, Fullerton and lived in Irvine, California. She died April 22, 2006.