Gloria Jean Payne

On August 30, 1926, Gloria was born to Earl and Grace Haney Rafael in Masontown, Pennsylvania. She spent most of her early years in Pittsburgh, where she enjoyed city life with the conveniences of friendly neighborhoods, shopping at downtown stores, and having the city at her feet with regular streetcars and city buses. Playing the piano was her main interest, which she was able to indulge at home, school, and church. In 1942, at 16, she graduated from high school a year ahead of her class. Eager to join the war effort, she moved to Baltimore, Maryland, to train in drafting at the Glenn L. Martin aircraft manufacturing company.

She went to work at the Martin plant and lived in a boarding house with other young singles, including a 6’6” Tarheel named Carroll Payne. They became friendly, but there was no special spark until a few months after he had moved to a new residence and they just happened to run into each other on a streetcar. Carroll suggested a movie, and the rest, as they say, is history.

After the war ended, Carroll needed to return to North Carolina to help with the family business, and Gloria returned to her parents’ home in Pittsburgh. During a Thanksgiving visit, they tentatively decided to get married when Carroll returned at Christmas, but did not announce their intentions to anyone. So married they were, although they spent more months after Christmas separated, Carroll with his family and Gloria with hers. When Carroll moved back north, the couple stayed in Pittsburgh until ready to go back to Baltimore and resume their career lives, along with such pastimes as movies, ball games, and dancing to big band music.

During those post-war years they worked and played hard, but shared a dream of raising a family in the country. They found a property about 25 miles out from town that was rural and spacious without demanding full-time devotion to farm life. There were flowering trees and shrubs along with beds for Gloria to fill with flowers, and an acre plot for Carroll to enjoy using for vegetable gardening.

Their farm-style house grew a bit smaller as the patter of little feet made itself heard, with Linda born in 1952 and Robin in 1954. For their early childhoods, Gloria was decidedly a stay-home mother, happy but feeling a bit isolated since as a city girl she had never learned to drive. That was taken care of by the time the girls went to kindergarten, and by the time they were both in elementary school she was working at their school, as well as giving piano lessons to area children and playing the organ at a little church in the nearest town: the Boring United Methodist Church. As the children transitioned to junior and senior high school, she transitioned back to working at her earlier job in Baltimore as a press scheduler for medical publishers Williams & Wilkins / Waverly Press.

The children grew up, attended college and graduate school, and ultimately moved away from Maryland. Robin and her husband Paul Cohen settled in San Marcos, Texas, and Linda and Ken Gadomski in Newark, Delaware. Both daughters wound up earning Ph.D.s in literature and teaching at universities.

Gloria and Carroll both retired after Carroll became disabled, which allowed many visits to both younger couples, and they experienced great joy in the birth of their first grandchild, Sarah Elizabeth Cohen, in 1985. Right after returning from a driving trip to Texas in spring 1986, Carroll suffered a massive stroke and died instantly. It was a very difficult time for Gloria, setting off nearly thirty years of missing her soulmate. Fortunately, she didn’t have to spend all her time alone, as Linda and Ken were only one state away in Delaware, and she often spent much of the week at their apartment. They then spent weekends at the family home, where she had assumed the role of weekend postmistress at the Boring Post Office. That life became a little edgier when Linda became pregnant, and after a hectic 85-mile drive one evening Gloria managed to be present for the birth of Jessica Jeanne (Jessi) Gadomski in fall 1987. Daniel Edward joined the Cohens a few months later, and Brian Edward Gadomski rounded out the extended family in spring 1989.

In 1990, Linda accepted a teaching job in Mobile, Alabama, so it was time to move Gloria and her parents, who had moved to Maryland and still maintained their own home. She was excited about being able to spend more time with both sets of grandchildren, but regretted leaving her community at the Boring church, where she had been organist for 36 years. After both homes were cleared out and sold, Robin found an assisted-living facility in San Marcos for the Rafaels, and Gloria built a studio apartment onto the Cohen home. She maintained a full and active life in San Marcos, serving for years as a volunteer at both the Central Texas Medical Center and the San Marcos Tourist Information Center. She joined the First United Methodist Church, where she took on pianist duties for an adult Sunday School class. Her close neighborhood friends included Ruth Rogers and Millie McKuhen. At the same time, Gloria took delight in having so much time to spend grandmothering, both in San Marcos and during visits to Mobile. She was always available to help out in times of need at either home. Eventually, she was thrilled to become a great-grandmother with the birth of Jessi’s children Jude, Adria, and Makayla.

Gloria greatly enjoyed traveling with the Cohens. Their trips included a month roaming around Ireland; two visits to Italy (including Rome, Venice, Florence, and rural Tuscany); a tour of the glaciers in the Swiss Alps; an extended camping trip to the Grand Canyon, Zion, and Bryce Canyon National Parks; as well as visits to New York, San Francisco, New Orleans, Santa Fe, Taos, and numerous other destinations. One of her last few trips was the joyous one to see her granddaughter Sarah marry Ryan Stage in Rochester, New York.

Seeing Puccini’s La Bohème at the Metropolitan Opera started her love of opera, and she accompanied the Cohens to dozens of performances. She saw Sarah and Danny, both classically-trained singers, each sing in Mozart operas in Italy, as well as in many other productions and concerts. She also received much pleasure from the performing of Brian, who was also a trained and prolific musician.

In March 2004, the family moved thirty miles up the road to Austin, the state capitol, and Gloria began seeing more of Austin-based friends, including Lorraine Chammah and Nancy Grayson. Taking full advantage of Austin’s vibrant cultural scene, she attended a great many plays, concerts, and performances of all kinds. She remained in good health through her 89th birthday until Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukemia took her from us after a mercifully brief final illness. She has left her many family members and friends with thousands of happy memories.