This woman we love was born into a highly-spirited Italian family as the first of six children born to Phil Sr. and Helen Rizzo, residents of Fort Wayne. Her family was precious to her. She will be remembered by her surviving siblings: Nick (Deb) Rizzo, Barbara (Gary) Baus, Elaine (George) Petersen, Phil Jr. Rizzo, and Barry Rizzo. She was a spunky youth who graduated from Central High School (Class of 1962).  Gloria was a member of the band and a baton twirler. She was known as a faithful friend and had equally faithful friends into adulthood. She started her career at  St. Joseph's Hospital School of X-ray Technology and upon completion of her coursework was shortly employed by the hospital as a Radiology Technician. This was also the time our sweet mother met her devoted husband, Marland J. Myers. Gloria and Marland wed on October 3, 1964, settled into their lifelong home in New Haven and started the family that Gloria always wanted. As Marland worked outside of the home to support his family, Gloria worked inside the home and raised her four children until they were old enough that she could return to work. She worked as a technician at Anthony Medical Center until her retirement.  As a wife, she was loving and sacrificial.  As a devoted mother, she was loving, attentive and committed to helping her children achieve success. In many small ways, she supported her children like reading to them every night when they were young and diligently working with them on math flashcards. She drove them to many orthodontic appointments, cared for them through their many self-inflicted injuries, and made the kitchen table a place for listening and conversation.

Her surviving children are Monica (Jim) Maddalone of Oregon, Tony (Pat) Myers of Kentucky, Mark (Rachel) Myers of New Haven, and Angela Myers (partner Jim Eastin) of Tennessee. Her hands were full with four children within four and a half years! To this end, her children could count on, with certainty, that their mom; always scheduled medical appointments after school so no school days were missed; took time to listen to them before she gave her 2 cents; encouraged them toward a healthy lifestyle by gathering the crew for family bike-a-thons; and when their humor got the best of her, she laughed so hard--she cried. In retirement years, Gloria added the pleasures of golfing and kayaking as well as the adventure of travel including Hawaii, Costa Rico and an Alaskan cruise for her 50th wedding anniversary. Our Gloria especially loved horses, calla lilies, the color purple, and her family.  Upon seeing any of these, please take a moment to think of her--this wife, mother, sister, aunt, and friend who holds a special place in many hearts. She gave herself and the best she had to us. We grieve because of the loss of our blessing that was Gloria.

Donations:

Horse rescue organization: https://www.shadarobah.com/about-us.html

Heritage Pointe: https://heritagepointeoffortwayne.org/

Lewy Body Dementia Foundations - https://www.lbda.org/donate/