Gloria Katherine Herman

Gloria Katherine (Miller) Herman was the only child of Beulah (Moore) Miller and William Miller. She was born in Los Animas, CO on February 17, 1932. When she was a young child, the family moved to Canon City, CO which is where she grew up. Though she lived in other states throughout her life, she always thought of Colorado as home and pronounced proudly that she was a native. She married Joe R. Williams on June 15, 1949. They had two children, Kathryn (Kathy) Mitze and Jack Williams. She was the proud grandmother of Kirk Mitze and great grandmother of Austin and Drew Mitze. She thought of Jack’s wife Violet (Vi), Kirk’s wife Nikki, and Allyn Mitze as her “kids” too and loved them dearly. Nothing made her as happy as spending time with her family.

Gloria married Don Herman on February 17, 2001. Her kids used to tease Don about marrying her on her birthday so he didn’t have to remember two separate dates. She and Don had a long distance relationship for a few years before she moved to California to marry Don. They had been friends for many years before marrying and he was truly the love of her life. They enjoyed life together and both loved Maui so went there every year for a month long vacation. She returned to Colorado in early December 2016 after Don passed away unexpectedly and though she missed him, enjoyed being back home in Colorado.

Gloria worked as a secretary for different companies for many years before pursuing her passion of being an artist. Her medium was typically oils though she also did some pen and ink drawings. Her paintings could be found in Colorado mountain town galleries as well as in California coastal town galleries. She taught oil painting to private students as well as group classes. She had her own gallery and taught classes in Pioneer, CA for a few years before retiring. After retirement, she continued to paint and family and friends were blessed with gifts of her paintings.

Gloria loved to travel and traveled all over the US as well as abroad. She had just returned home from a 3 week vacation in Hawaii the night she suffered the stroke. She always had a camera in hand and took, literally, thousands of pictures of landscapes, seascapes, flowers, trees, animals, rocks…whatever she saw to later use as a reference for a painting. She had an artist’s eye and saw things the rest of us did not.

Gloria loved music and always had music playing in her home. She had some favorites like Glenn Miller, Josh Groban, Neil Diamond, John Denver but had CD’s from a variety of artists. Even though her right hand was severely burned as a very young child and she didn’t have the use of all 5 fingers, she played the piano beautifully. She enjoyed live performances of all kinds and sought out some lesser known artists in small venues around Denver.

We feel the loss and miss this loving and caring lady but find joy in knowing she lived a good and full life. We will carry her in our hearts each and every day.

Celebration of Gloria's life will be at 10:00am on Friday August 31, 2018 at Olinger Crown Hill, Pavilion of Reflection. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.