Gloria J Freeman

Eulogy for Gloria Freeman

Laid to rest with her parents Louis and Leona Matlosz  at St Adalbert Cemetery in Niles, Illinois on February 8, 2022

Good morning.  Marlene and I thank you all for coming to the memorial for my sister Gloria Freeman.

What a gal!  Independent!  Strong-willed!  Self-reliant!  Outspoken!  Artistic!  Frugal at times with her personal well-being!  Extravagant at times with things she had a keen interest in! 

I’m sure that some of you who were close to Gloria can add to the list!

 But of all the traits you might assign to Gloria, one stands out above all others.

Gloria was a Christian with a deep love of the Lord. 

When I would call her, our conversations would typically take on three phases:

In the first phase, I would ask:  How are you doing?  What’s up with the apartments and your house?  How is your health?  Do you need me to come over and take you to the doctor?  She would typically respond by telling me that she’s getting along okay and that she has some projects going on --- most recently the ceiling repair in the solarium of her house, the new roof on her house, and the rehab of the parking lot at the apartments.

Then we would move into the second phase of the conversation -- politics!  Lord have mercy!  She would get all fired up and go on and on and on about the problems we face in our nation today and what needs to be done to get things back on track.  I sincerely believe that she enjoyed this segment of our conversation the most because it got her juices flowing. I could tell in her voice that it was an uplifting and exhilarating moment if you know what I mean.

Then we would get to the finality.  The Bible!  Gloria was quite clever.  Having set the stage in phase one and two of our conversation about problems and issues, be they health, projects, politics, etc., she would quote the Bible and point out to me that despite adversities, setbacks, and troubling times, I should always keep the faith in the Lord because the Lord will always take care of us.

This is my sister’s legacy.  She held a strong belief in God and she made it her mission to tell everyone that God would see to it that problems would always be solved, difficulties would always be overcome, and goodness would always prevail over evil.

While I agreed with her, I have to say that God must have sent some guardians, messengers, or angels to help Gloria out!  Some of you are here today.

Gorge, you were there for Gloria to help her with the apartment landscaping, maintenance, and rent collection, and running errands for her.

Sheri, you helped Gloria spiritually and got her around to the doctors and grocery shopping and running errands for her.

Frank, you were her sounding board!  She depended heavily on your advice for many projects that she would have never been able to undertake without you.

Sonya, the phone calls, I’m sure, lifted Gloria’s spirits.

Neighbors, who looked out for Gloria.  It’s always a blessing and a comfort to have such good people living next door.

And there were probably many others who have helped Gloria at one time or another.

Thank you all for being the guardian or the messenger or the angel who confirmed Gloria’s strong belief that despite adversities, difficulties, or problems God would always take care of her.

In closing, I’d like to tell you a short story about one of my conversations with Gloria.

There’s a health supplement called Balance of Nature.  It’s advertised a lot on TV and Gloria got the biggest kick out of a particular commercial running on this product.

The commercial shows an 80+ year old man playing softball and running the bases.

In a follow-on scene, the 80+ year old man states that he takes Balance of Nature every day and will continue to take it until he graduates to the next life!

Gloria was ecstatic about the words “graduates to the next life” in the commercial.  She strongly believed in God and life eternal.

Gloria, you have graduated!  May God bless you! Shalom!

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