Gloria Patricia Hood

Gloria Patricia (Gooden) Hood was born May 23, 1939 in Atlanta Georgia at Grady Memorial Hospital to Mrs. Annie Florence (Smith) Gooden and Mr. Bennie Gooden Sr. As a child, she lived in a neighborhood where everyone knew everyone else. She attended Thomasville Elementary School when, back then, the whole school only had four rooms: First and second grade was in one room together, third and fourth grade was in another room together, fifth and sixth grades were in separate rooms, and seventh grade was in the kitchen. She went to that elementary school building from the first through the sixth grade until they built a new Thomasville Elementary School made of bricks for the seventh grade. This was during segregation. She attended David T. Howard High school from the eighth and nineth grades where she met and later married, Leamon Hood Sr. on August 6, 1960, who courted her by buying her donuts and what used to be called “scrap-jive” for her affection. She attended Price High School from the tenth grade until she graduated. At Price High School, she was on the debating team (where she debated on the radio), she was a cheerleader, Miss Science, a member of the basketball team, ran for Miss Price High (but lost), and won a scholarship to Spelman College that she attended for one year.

Her matrimony produced three children: Leamon Hood, Jr., Mellonee (Hood) Blumenberg and Brian C. Hood.

Although she worked in the early years, her husband’s job moved the family to Cincinnati, Ohio; New York, NY; and Memphis, Tennessee where she attended and graduated with honors from Shelby State Community College with an associate’s degree in Sociology. There she was a member of Alpha Alpha Beta of the Phi Theta Kappa sorority. She was also president of the PTO at Westwood Elementary School in Memphis Tennessee and briefly attended Memphis State University during the same hours her children were in school so she could be home with them in the afternoons. She had some health challenges over the latter years of her life and passed away at her home July 6, 2021 in the presence of her oldest son, Leamon Hood Jr.

She leaves behind to cherish her memory her adult children: Leamon (Maxeen Freeman) Hood Jr., Mellonee (Hood) Blumenberg, and Brian C. Hood; sisters: Gwendolyn “Teedie” (Walter) Taylor and Colette Gaines; brother: Adolphus “Butch” (Maxine) Gooden; brother-in-law: Harold (late Betty-Ann) Maddox; grandchildren: Aisha Nicole Hood, Leamon “Trea” Hood III, Samantha Blumenberg, Hailey Hood, Jordan Hood, Peyton Davis, and Brian A. Hood; great grandchildren: Leamon Hood lV, Jace Blumenberg-Dippolito; and a host of nieces, nephews & cousins.