Well, Gloria was a good companion to my Dad and brought out a more emotional, affectionate side to him that I had not seen previously. We worried when she was diagnosed with cancer and also showed signs of dementia that my Dad would be in for the heartache of losing another spouse.
Instead, he died after a very quick battle with pancreatic cancer, and Gloria was left to widowhood again. This spring, just about a year after Dad died, she succumbed to her liver cancer and died as well.
Gloria’s life was a testimony of how God pursues us, She thought she was a believer, but it turns out she never understood the gospel until after she married Dad and started attending UBC. She was baptized about a year later. She remarked to me that she wondered if one of the main reasons God had her meet my father was so that she could know Jesus before she died. It would seem so.
In preparation for her funeral, we hung out with Gloria’s two stepsons and remarked how we had always wanted brothers! We also have loved getting to know Brad's wife, Missy (who I already knew from our homeschooling days in Johnson City). Gloria and her husband Paul are both buried in the National Cemetery in Fayetteville, same as our mom and dad.
