Gloria Orr
Our Beautiful Mother “Gloria Jean” passed away peacefully at her home in Santa Barbara surrounded by her many children and grandchildren. The house was full of singing, piano playing & conversations when she left this earth and moved to her new home in heaven. We all knew and could feel our Lord and Dad there waiting with open arms to take her home. Gloria is the mother to 11 of her own children: Shaune, Maureen, Dana, Rosemary, Rodric, Stephen, Lorraine, Camille, Jeannie, Diane & Danny and also the Grandma / Great Grandma to 30 more wonderful children. Our parents met at UCSB in the late 1940’s where they both earned their degrees in education. They were married for over 70 years when dad passed away in 2019. Theirs was a very strong & loving marriage and they had a united front that we used to call “Fort Knox” because nothing could separate or divide them. We lived most of our lives on a small ranch in Santa Barbara with animals and adventure all around us so moms to-do list was a never ending task. Somehow mom would always find the time to counsel our friends or anyone who had a hurt that needed mending. Often, she would invite people without families into our home for meals, holidays or a place to hang their hat for the night. She always stretched the meals so everyone was welcome on a very limited budget. Our mother and father were very involved with their church, serving others in a time of need & helping at the Mission shelter where they would sometimes sleep and counsel people thru the night. Our mom loved feeding people and nourishing their souls with kindness. She loved The Lord Jesus and would always try to do the best she could to spread the love of Christ to others through her actions. Mom volunteered anytime or anywhere she could and taught all eleven of us the importance of this service towards others.
She would often say, “if you’re ever feeling down or sad, try serving others and you will feel much better”. We called her “Gabby Glo” because she had the gift of “Gab” that could take a short conversation into hours of memories and adventures from her life. We all miss our mom beyond what words can describe but know she will be watching over us until we go home to join her with God in paradise.
In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Villa Magella in Santa Barbara.