Gloria Reece

Gloria Reece was born to Mary and Ramon Perez on November 22, 1934 in Brooklyn, NY.

In September 1956, Gloria began her journey into motherhood by giving birth to a bouncing baby boy named Kevin. Ten years later, in August, she gave birth to beautiful baby girl and named her Kim. Determined to ensure her children had a decent life, in 1967, Gloria began her public service career with NYC’s Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) as an Assistant Train Dispatcher.

In 1970, while working at the MTA, Gloria met her husband, Vincent “Vinny” Reece. They were married four years later, on December 20, 1974 and began their lives together in Bay Shore, NY. After 21 years of service, Gloria retired from the MTA.

In 1992, she moved from Bay Shore, New York to Palm Coast, Florida and at the tender age of 50, began a new career as a licensed Real Estate agent. While working for Palm Coast Realty, she sold countless homes.

In addition to being a dedicated wife, loving mother and beloved grandmother, Gloria enjoyed traveling and spending time with her family and friends. She had a big heart, an even bigger smile and was always willing to help support anyone in their time of need.

She is preceded in death by Ramon “Segundo” Perez (father), Mary “Tamma” Perez (mother), Beatrice Perez (sister), Eddie Perez (brother) and Fatima Chelley (granddaughter).

She will be forever honored and remembered by her husband of 45 years, Vincent Reece, son, Kevin Chelley and daughter, Kim Manigault (Kevin).

Gloria is survived by two siblings, Estelle “Stella” Jones and Raymond Perez (Virginia); two stepchildren, Dawn Gonzalez and Vincent Reece Jr. (New York); six grandchildren, Victor Gonzalez Jr. (New York), Ashley Mata, Kevin Manigault Jr., Kayla Manigault (South Carolina), Ayisha Chelley and Tiffany Mobley (New York); seven great-grandchildren Aniya Mata, Khloe Washington, Kathryn Mata (South Carolina), Devante Chelley, Layla Graham, Kayla Graham (New York) and Shatiqua Graham (Pennsylvania), two great-great grandchildren, and a host of nieces, nephews and friends.

She will be dearly missed.

Our Family Chain

We knew little that morning

That God would call your name

In life we loved you dearly

In death we do the same

It broke our hearts to lose you

But you did not go alone

For part of us went with you

The day God called you home

You left us beautiful memories

Your love will always be our guide

And though we cannot see you

You will always be by our side

Our family chain is broken

And nothing will be the same

But as God calls us one by one

The chain will link again

In Our Hearts

We thought of you today

But that is nothing new

We thought about you yesterday

And the day before that too

We think of you in silence

We often speak your name

Now all we have are memories and

Your picture in a frame

Your memory is our keepsake

With which we will never part

God has you in his arms

We have you and will keep you in our hearts

Tributes

Dear Great Grandma,

This is Niya. I know you might not be able to see this now because you are in Heaven, but I just wanted you to know that I love you and miss you. You will forever have a special place in my heart. I love you because you weren’t afraid to be you. You were always so funny and your smile brightened the room. I will always love you forever and ever. This is not goodbye, it is hello. I will see you soon. I know you will be looking down on me at my track meets and as I walk across the stage to graduate. I am making you a promise to succeed in all of my dreams and it will be for you Grandma. I love you forever and always.

Aniya

Hi Grandma,

This is your granddaughter Kayla and I just want to say thank you for everything you’ve done for me and my family while you were down here. I would also like to apologize for not being there to bond with you or being able to sit there and talk to you for a long amount of time. But you are in a better place now and that’s all that matters!! I’m so glad you are not in pain anymore and that you are in God’s hands. It is going to be very hard not having you here to come and check on us. It is also going to be hard not seeing you at the front door with open arms when we arrive at your home. I love you so much and you mean so much to me. I’m sorry you were taken away from me so early.

Kayla