Gloria Beatrice Laird

Gloria was born on May 20, 1928 in New York to Leon & Margaret Sculti (Russo). Gloria was the 2nd child of a large Italian family with older sister Eleanor, and younger siblings Margaret, Rita, Lee, Virginia, Bill, and Kate. Meal time was family time as Mom (Margaret) cooked everything from scratch while Pops (Leon) had everyone laughing and enjoying life.

Leon was an orphan from Frosinone, Italy, who came to America and lived the American dream. Leon always appreciated the opportunities provided to a person like himself who had nothing when he came to this country. He had to hustle during the depression to feed his growing family and eventually start his own successful construction business. He imbued all of his children with a love for the opportunity that America provided, while Margaret made sure all her children had a “love of learning”.

Gloria attended high school at Our Lady of Wisdom Academy in New York City where she won the sewing award and French Medal and was constantly attempting to teach her siblings French. She also attended St. Mary's Hospital School of Nursing in Brooklyn where she graduated as a Registered Nurse (RN). Gloria married John (Jack) A. Laird III, an electrical engineer, on June 7, 1952 in New York and subsequently had 4 children – Robert (Bob), John (Mike), Maureen, and William (Bill). The growing family lived in Tulsa Oklahoma, Kingston NY, and Saugerties NY. Gloria worked as a registered nurse at Benedictine Hospital in Kingston, NY for over 25 years. She served various roles including being a supervisor in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and Coronary Care Unit (CCU). She took care of a countless numbers of patients over the years as a nurse.

After her husband Jack passed away in 1987, Gloria retired to Orlando, Florida to be with her nursing friends from St. Mary's, including her dear friends Ed and Natalie Brandsema. The nurses hosted an annual reunion of the “Bad Apples” as the supervising nun at St. Mary's determined the nurses in training were just a bunch of bad apples!

In Orlando, Gloria volunteered as a nurse in a free healthcare clinic for those in need who could not afford traditional healthcare. On her own time, she studied and learned conversational Spanish to interact with patients as many spoke no English. The clinic was sponsored by the Holy Family Catholic Church. She also volunteered at the Orlando airport information desk for many years, and did volunteer nursing at Sand Lake hospital. On a more personal level, Gloria enjoyed line dancing and music while enjoying an active life while retired.

In her later years, Gloria moved to Colorado Springs, CO to be near family. Gloria is survived by Robert and wife Amy, John and wife Christa, Maureen, William and wife Massami as well as grandsons Kenneth, Thomas, and Jack.

A graveside service will be held for friends and family at St. Mary's Cemetery in Saugerties, NY in early April. In lieu of flowers, contributions should be made to the Alzheimer’s Association.