Gloria was born to Joseph and Matilda Petruzzi and was preceded in death by her brother Joseph. She was a loving and “AMAZING” mother and friend to her four daughters Glenda Osborn (deceased), Cherylyn “Cher” Douglas (Jack), Denise “Dee Dee” Delatorre (Alex), Bonnie Berger (Adam) and grandmother “Nanny” to Laura Jones Hirst, Alex Cam, Brooke Berger and Amanda Berger and was a great grandmother to Ty Jones and Sean Hirst.
Gloria had battled several cancers in the past and survived each occurrence however she was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in October. Upon this diagnoses her granddaughter, Laura never left her side and took upon the caring of her, loved her and was her Angel of Mercy during this journey until the end.
Gloria began work with Orange County Public Schools at Mollie E. Ray Elementary in order to keep her youngest daughter Bonnie from coming home every day during class time just to say “Hi”. While at OCPS she worked in the cafeteria and met a wonderful group of ladies that played Bunco with every month since the early 1960’s until recently. These ladies have a special bond and have remained friends until the end. Gloria worked for a dentist in Winter garden for several years and then went to work for the City of Orland in Fleet Maintenance where she ended her career.
After retiring Gloria and Jack her devoted and love of her life enjoyed traveling the world by RV’ing or by Cruise ship. They traveled much of the United States joining up with other military couples along the way making countless new wonderful friends that remained close for many years. Jack and Gloria also traveled throughout Europe by cruise ship and car making many life long memories from astounding locations such as England, France, Italy, Greece and Turkey.
Gloria loved to swim, sew, cook, laugh and entertain others with her numerous stories of life experiences but most of all she loved spending numerous hours and days with her family. She was affectionately refer to by her daughters as the “Glow Worm” because of her bright smile, determination and loving nature. Above all she was a religious woman that loved God and she lived her life to the fullest as a good woman. She is now off to new adventures and we are sure she is using her favorite phrase.
“Let me tell you what I think you should do”