Gloria Vesper

Gloria grew up in Ironwood, Michigan, which is in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. She attended Augustana School of Nursing in Chicago, IL. Chicago is also where she met her husband, Robert O. Vesper, who was stationed there for Navy schooling during WW II. They married on March 27, 1948 and were married for 65 years before Robert (Bob) died on December 18, 2014.

Robert was a geologist for oil companies that eventually became Exxon. The Vespers were transferred often and they lived in Nebraska (Bob was born and raised in Long Pine, NE), Montana, Kansas, Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. After Bob died in 2014, Gloria moved to The Windsor Assisted Living on Roosevelt Blvd. in Jacksonville, FL where she enjoyed an active life for 8 years before she suffered a stroke on December 16, 2023. The stroke left her with no use of her left side and she had to be placed on a feeding tube, but her mind was very sharp until the day she died. She lived her last 11 months at Riverside Post Acute (the former St. Catherine’s Laboure rehabilitation and nursing home) in Jacksonville, FL.

Gloria loved knitting and crafts, her rose garden, jigsaw puzzles, Bridge, trivia games, Bingo, family, and friends. She was a very social person with many friends, most of whom have predeceased her.

Gloria was predeceased by her husband, Robert O. Vesper, and is survived by her daughter, Janice V. Martin of Jacksonville, FL, 2 grandchildren (Claire Martin Smith of Jacksonville, FL and Sheila Martin Bentley of Auburn, AL), 4 great grandsons, and 2 great granddaughters (with another great granddaughter due in early 2025).

A small viewing and service for Gloria will be held at the Hardage-Giddens chapel, Oaklawn Cemetery, 4801 San Jose Boulevard, Jacksonville, FL 32207, at 10:00 AM on December 21, 2024. A Memorial Service will be held at 11:30 AM Saturday, December 21, 2024, at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, 4129 Oxford Avenue, Jacksonville, FL 32210. She will be laid to rest at Memorial Oaks Cemetery in Houston, TX sometime in early 2025.