There are those whom you meet that leave an impression in your mind and heart for a lifetime. Gloria Gay Kuhla (Geeg) was born during the height of the WWII era, to mother Donna Virginia Marsh and Joseph Newman on April 30th, 1937 in Yakima, Washington. Second born to her beloved brother and close friend Richard Newman, an honorable Army Platoon leader during the Vietnam War.
Gloria spent much of her childhood with her Grandmother Ruth Marsh (seamstress, cook, and Inn caretaker), where she learned both the joys and heartaches of life and the meaning of quiet strength. Gloria graduated from Lincoln High school in 1953, worked as a bookstore manager at the University of Lincoln Nebraska, then pursued her career in the beauty industry after receiving her degree in Cosmetology in 1955. A true creative soul, blessed with innate artistic talent that spanned from drawing, oil painting, hair styling, gardening, to whipping up a multicultural meal, Gloria shared her love and gift of seeing the beauty she found in the everyday simple things, reveling in the infinite details of everything around her with those she loved and even those she did not know well.
Her love of animals (big and small), gardening, reading, music, dancing, spending time at the beach, decorating, painting, cooking, helping people and futching around the house (as she would call it), is where she found herself most happy and at peace within the beauty that life offers us all. A grateful, gentle, giving, soft spoken, hardworking, strong, and loving woman, she transitioned from teaching cosmetology and making others feel beautiful about themselves to creating a family, home, and a soft place for her husband and children to grow and flourish. Gloria met her husband Cletus (Boots) Kuhla of 57 years, in Lincoln Nebraska during the summer of 62’ and they married three brief months later in the Fall on October 6th, 1962.
Gloria’s desire was to always have children and on February 23, 1967 and March 27th, 1969, she welcomed her two daughters into the world. Always giving of herself, Gloria when awaking from open heart surgery on February 27th, 2019 and asked if she needed anything replied, “What is that mans name, I would like to thank him for taking such good care of me and saving my life”. This is the essence of all that she embodied, selflessness and caring that should be celebrated as she lived so shall she be remembered.
A loving mother, wife, best friend, lover, confidant, secret keeper, storyteller, artist, 4th grade project helper, avid reader. Gloria passed on Tuesday, March 12, 2019 with her daughters by her side at Deborah Heart and Lung Center in Browns Mills, New Jersey. She will be dearly missed and remembered by all whom she touched.
A Memorial Service will be held on Friday, March 22, 2019, 5PM EST at the Bradley & Stow Funeral Home in Medford, NJ located at 127 Medford / Mt. Holly Road, Medford, New Jersey 08055 – Phone (609) 953-7600. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Gloria’s memory to one of the following charities: Deborah Heart & Lung Center Hospital Foundation at www.
deborahfoundation.org/donate or The BrightFocus Foundation: www.
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