Mrs. Gladys Dillard was born in Detroit on August 6, 1921. Her parents, Albert A. and Lucy Patton Somerville, migrated to Detroit from Greensboro, Alabama after her father's return from his World War I tour of duty in Europe. She graduated from Cass Technical High School in 1939 and enrolled in Wayne University. Because she was interested in obtaining a nursing degree, she had to transfer to the Freedmen's Hospital nursing program at Howard University in 1941. med.umich.edu
