Obituary of Gloria Healy

Gloria Jane (Grover) Healy, 93, passed away Friday, July 6, 2018, at her home in Olympia, Washington.

 

Gloria was born on February 3, 1925, the middle of three daughters, to Cecile “Leone” Hoyt and Clyde Walter Grover. She grew up in Lansing, Michigan, and was part of the last graduating class of Central High School in 1943.  Gloria attended the University of Michigan, and Henry Ford Hospital School of Nursing, where she graduated in 1946 with a nursing degree.  She initially worked on the surgical floor there.

 

Gloria became an American Airlines stewardess in 1949, and flew out of L.A., San Francisco, and Waikiki Beach.  She was also part of the Korean Airlift, assisting troops on flights between Tokyo and Honolulu.

 

In 1952, Gloria married James R. Healy, and they began their family in San Francisco, later transferring to the Washington, D.C. area, where the rest of her six children were born.

 

Gloria was the quintessential RN, working in four states over the course of 70 years, always staying abreast of the latest medical news.  “Your health comes first,” she counseled.

 

Gloria, also known as “GG” (for her maiden name), was fond of caring for others, witty conversational sparring, classic movies, and live theater.  She liked to play piano, sew, and tap dance.  She bonded with and uplifted children wherever she met them, and readily talked to “strangers.”

 

Gloria was kind, generous and fiercely independent.  She was always willing to help others, demonstrating her strong Christian faith in action.  She admired doctors, nurses, and anyone who helped others. She was full of spunk, and notorious for her sassiness and sharp mind.

 

As an example of her tenacity, Gloria spent six months in a nursing home, where the staff insisted that she needed to stay to get 24-hour perpetual care.  Against all odds, she took a dial-a-lift bus home to her own apartment, where she applied her nursing skills to herself, acting both as patient and RN (to herself), until the end.

 

GG is preceded in death by her parents and her two sisters, Betty J. Weber and Loretta M. Klemmetsen.  She is survived by her six children: Diane Azpiazu (Aurelio) of Port Republic, Maryland; Mary Fullerton, of Virginia Beach, Virginia; Joan “Juniper” Healy (Danny), of Floyd, Virginia; Pat Healy (Connie), of Chesapeake, Virginia; Carolyn Healy, of Washington, D.C.; and Rob Healy, of Olympia, Washington.  Also living on are 12 grandchildren: Amy, Autumn, Brandon, Caleb, Christopher, Ian, Lauren, Leah, Natalie, Ryan, Sara and Sequoyah; and seven great grandchildren: Addison, Carter, Charlotte, Coner, Sawyer, Sebastian and Willow.

 

 

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