Gloria Jean DeWolf

Gloria is survived by her husband, James McCuskey DeWolf, who she married on June 7, 1966; a daughter, Cynthia (Gary) Krogmann; a son, Todgie DeWolf; 2 brothers, Chester and Ralph Chetnik; a grandson, Eric Krogmann; a stepson, Shawn Waltz.

Gloria was preceded in death by her parents, Chester and Lillian Chetnik; a grandson, Ryan Krogmann.

Gloria was a graduate of Villa Angela High School in 1962. She loved fishing, playing scrabble, doing puzzles, computer games, who was known as "killer grandma."

Gloria's daughter always had Gloria involved in some type of craft. Gloria, this gentle lady will be greatly missed by all who knew her.

Family and friends may call at Gattozzi and Son Funeral Home, 12524 Chillicothe Rd., Chesterland on Thursday, December 19, 2024, 4 – 7 pm, where a Prayer Service will be held immediately following at 7:00 pm. Procession formed for Interment at Lost Nation Road Cemetery at 10:00 am Friday, December 20, 2024 at the funeral home.

In Gloria’s words…..

Gloria Jean Chetnik DeWolf. I was born on July 23, 1944 at Grace Hospital in Cleveland, OH at 7:00 a.m. to Lillian and Chester Chetnik, Sr. Being the second child, my dad always said since my mom had a boy the first time, Chester Chetnik, Jr., he thought he’d let her have a girl next. Originally named Carol Ann Chetnik, my name was changed to Gloria Jean because my Aunt Anna, who had been married already five years, told my mom that she just couldn’t name me Carol Ann because that was the name she had picked out for her daughter! She never had any children.

I ended up being a middle child. Eleven months later my brother Ralph was born. He was very sickly and almost died. My mom told me once that Chet was the first born and used to attention, and with Ralph being so sick, I was left in the middle and got what attention was left. I never really felt ignored, in fact, being the only girl was an advantage and I was definitely “Daddy’s Girl”.

We were a very Catholic family. This included nuns and priest throughout the Chetnik background. This, of course, entitled all three of us to twelve years of Catholic schools. What really killed me was the fact that we lived across the street from Euclid Public High School and all my friends were going there. How my parents ever afforded sending three kids to Catholic schools I’ll never know. When Chet was a senior, I was a sophomore and Ralph was a freshmen.

When anyone talks about blind faith, that is exactly what you had being a Catholic. Well, let’s say, that was me. I believed so strongly and NEVER questioned the church. I believed that unbaptized babies went to limbo, if you died with sin on your soul you had to go to purgatory, the host WAS the body and blood of Christ, and if you weren’t Catholic, you went to hell.

When I was 21 I met my hubby, Todgie. His real name is James, but he never went by that name. My dad was always bad at names. One day he called Todgie, "Rodgie." I said, “Dad, his name is Todgie!” He said “Hodgie, Rodgie, Bodgie, Todgie what’s the difference.” This remained a joke with us for years.

We got married on June 7, 1966 at Judge Clair’s home in Willoughby, OH. Todgie was home on emergency leave. I was the emergency! If you know what I mean. (In the family way) I’ll never forget, Todgie was in Viet Nam and tried to get us married by radio. Back then, the priest said absolutely NO. So he got home, which is another story, and we got married by Judge Clair. Three years later, out of respect for my parents, we got married at St. Robert’s Church in Euclid, OH. Everyone in the families thought this was a marriage doomed. Ha, ha, ha! EVERYONE else is divorced and we are now celebrating our 54th year of marriage.

A big change came in my life when I was 35 years old. My good friend, Pat Laba, had a 3 year old daughter who had cancer of the liver and died shortly after being diagnosed. Pat, with the same Catholic background was searching and ended up questioning her faith and ended up a basic Baptist. This was not unfamiliar to me because Todgie’s family was of this background and I had taken our kids to many services at Erieside Church, which is basically Baptist. To make a long story short, I ended up realizing that what is in the Bible is what is and not the interpretation of the Catholic Church.

The big events in my life were marriage and children: Cynthia Louise born December 20, 1966 and Todgie James born October 18, 1970. Cindy married Gary Krogmann and had two children: Eric Gerhardt and Ryan James. They replaced my “empty nest” syndrome and became my life. Even Todgie used to tell me that they weren’t my kids, they were Cindy’s. Todgie James married and divorced and has no children.

I did have the opportunity to be very involved with Governor George Voinovich’s campaign and was even asked to move to Columbus and work at the Capitol. During this time I also went to Washington and saw George W. Bush at a Presidential Ball.

My basic skills were secretarial. I didn’t work while the children were young because, Todgie being a policeman who worked a lot of part time jobs, we felt it was better that I stayed home.

After the kids were in school, I got involved with party plan sales. You name it, I sold it. My managers used to say I could sell snow to an Eskimo. I even earned a car when I was selling Mary Kay Cosmetics. As they got older, I went back to secretarial work at Voinovich Co. and advanced to Administrative Assistant to Paul Mifsud, who was the executive Vice President and George Voinovich’s campaign manager.

During this time, the DeWolf family got involved in camping, boating & fishing. Todge had found a 16 Ft. boat CHEAP! We started out camping in Todge’s brother Dale’s gutted bread truck. This gave us the bug. Eventually, after borrowed tents and our 16 foot boat, we progressed to our 18 ft. Galaxy, bow rider, two sleeping tents and a large screen tent that had everything you could have in a regular kitchen. We camped at Camp Chautauqua for the entire month of July for seven years. Fishing every morning and night, boating & skiing and tubing all afternoon and camp fires every night. We used to have more friends and families come up to fish, learn to ski and just enjoy themselves. I could write a book on those summers alone.

I quit Voinovich Co. to take care of Rosemary, who had a serious staph infection and Todgie and I were there every day for about two months. After that I hostessed at Dino’s Restaurant and work catered parties. Then, I had the opportunity to work part time with my mother-in-law, Rosemary, managing Independence Place Condominiums. Rosemary quit after two weeks. Well, after seventeen years, I am still there, myself, and plan to retire in a few years.

I was fortunate to meet many people who affected my life, but in thinking back, the most reliable and influential were my mother, Lillian, Todgie’s Grandma Winesburgh and his mother, Rosemary David.

1950 US Census - OH, Cuyahoga, Cleveland:

Chetnick, Chester J.......Head.....34.....OH.....Machinist

, Lillian S..........Wife.....36.....OH

, Chester Jr.....Son.........8.....OH

, Gloria J..........Dau........5.....OH

, Ralph R.........Son........4.....OH