“Where did this brunette cutie come from?” was one of my first thoughts when I spotted my future wife, Gloria, sitting on the third row from the front at the First Assembly of God in Alexandria, Virginia. Pastor Thomas Gulbronson, the Reverend Doctor Thomas Gulbronson was preaching.
I, a newly minted Second Lieutenant in the United States Army Corps of Engineers straight out of the Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, GA (and incidentally not a bad baritone), was sitting on the platform as a member of the church choir. We finished our contribution and sat back to listen to the sermon. I sat back to enjoy the view. (If Gloria saw that last sentence, she would probably say, “I’ve heard this before!”)
Gloria May Hall Turner was born in December 1955, to Horace and Sylvia Hall of West Point, VA. Horace Hall, now deceased, was a World War II veteran who had married late in life, 38 as I remember. Sylvia, her mother, also now deceased, was one of six children of father, Clarence Rettig, living in Ohio and her mother, Elizabeth who had emigrated to the United States from Ireland as a 17 year old girl, in early 1900. Following this marriage, they moved to Eltham where Sylvia met Horace.
Their union produced Gloria and a younger sister, Brenda.
Now I was eyeballing 25 year old Gloria May, cute as only a 25 year old female could be. How could I meet this girl?
Several weeks later, during a potluck lunch after church one Sunday I had my chance. Although I openly asked another young woman for her name and number, I was too shy to approach Gloria. Since the potluck was at her apartment, I merely snuck a look at her telephone hanging up in her kitchen. Once back at my quarters, I called and left a message since she was out. Imagine my throbbing heartbeat when I returned later that day and there was a note waiting in my mail slot. This was before the days of cellphones. Communications not done face to face could be slow. (Be still my beating heart!)
From that beginning we progressed until our Sunday School teacher was heard to remark, “Is there something going on between those two? They are sitting awfully close together!”
I was in a bit of a time crunch. I was leaving for my assignment in Bamberg, Germany – a city of 80,000 population town in northern Bavaria, in May 1982. We were married by the Reverend Thomas Gulbronson in the front of that very same church, on April 2, 1982. I was 27 and she was 26.
I left for Europe alone and she followed me several months later. Imagine my feelings when I picked up my new bride in the Frankfurt airport after several months absence. And so began our 42 years together.
Gloria entered the gates of Glory in the back of a King and Queen County ambulance on Friday afternoon, September 6, 2024. She stopped breathing on the way to the hospital. I knew the news was bad when I heard the driver call his dispatch and change from “non-emergency transport” to “EMERGENCY transport.” At the hospital, the ER doctor told me she had not been breathing for 25-30 minutes despite the best efforts of the county medics. God bless our dedicated medics!!!
Gloria would have been 69 on December 23 of this year.
The family will receive friends from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, September 14, 2024, at The First Assembly of God Church, 3976 E. Lewis B. Puller Mem. Hwy, Shacklefords, Va 23156. There will be a funeral service at 3 p.m. following the visitation. Burial will take place after the service at Tabernacle Methodist Church.
In lieu of flowers contributions may be made to the Lower King and Queen Vol Fire and Rescue 250 Bohannan Park, Shacklefords, Va. 23156 or West Point Vol. Fire and Rescue, PO Box X, West Point, Va. 23181.
