Born Sept. 21, 1943 in St. Paul, Minn.
She passed peacefully surrounded by family on Sunday, July 23, 2023.
She is survived by her husband Ronald, sons Neal (Renae) Ronquist of Hermantown, Minn. and Kurt Ronquist (Jaime Santos) of Woodbury, Minn., 5 grandchildren Rachel Ronquist, Riley Ronquist, Reese Ronquist, Emery Ronquist and Adelai Ronquist. Brother Donald (Faye) Grimaluskus of St. Paul, Minn., Brother and sister in law Richard (Mary Ann) Ronquist, of Zumbrota, Minn. Many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.
She graduated from St. Paul Harding High School 1961. She attended the University of Minnesota for one year.
She worked at Fannie Farmer Candy where she boxed and sorted candy. She then moved to Northwestern Bell Telephone Company in the 1960s as a telephone operator and was a group chief operator before leaving to be a stay at home mom.
She rejoined the work force in 1976 at Weaver Elementary School in Maplewood as a title 1 teacher, before becoming the school’s lunch lady. She moved to John Glenn Junior High School where she was the school health aide. She was active in unions representing ISD 622 employees. She retired in 2003.
Gloria and Ronald were married for 57 years. For many years they were members of Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in St. Paul. They met at The Prom Dance Hall in St. Paul.
They enjoyed their weekly trips to Treasure Island Casino where Gloria “went to work on the slot machines”.
Gloria was an avid cook and was especially proud of her hamburger dumplings. She enjoyed tending to her rose bush garden, playing cards with her card club group for more than 40 years and playing dominoes. She loved Christmas and decorating her tree and home, but Thanksgiving was her favorite holiday as she enjoyed preparing the meal for the family. She enjoyed attending the many baseball, hockey, soccer, volleyball games and gymnastic meets of her sons and grandchildren through the years.
She particularly enjoyed spoiling her granddaughters with shopping trips and loved playing games with her No. 1 grandson.
She is preceded in death by her father Edward Grimaluskus, mother Emily Grimaluskus, sister Joanne Lavalle, father in law Albert Ronquist, mother in law Marguerite Ronquist, sister in law Dianne Leuzinger, brother in law Roland Leuzinger, sister in law Kristine Keenan, brother in law Michael Keenan.
Services will be held at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, 1390 Larpenteur Ave. E., in St. Paul.
Friday, July 28, 2023, 10:30 a.m. visitation, 11:30 a.m. service.
The burial will be at Newport Cemetery at 2:30 p.m., 220 Hastings Avenue, Newport, Minn. for those choosing to attend.
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