Gloria Babin

Gloria Grace was born on September 2, 1930 to William and Gladys Ritchie in Philadelphia, PA. After Gloria graduated from West Philadelphia High School in 1948, she went on to study nursing at Philadelphia’s Chestnut Hill Hospital School of Nursing. Having served three years in the training school, she received instruction in theoretical and practical nursing and successfully passed the required examinations on September 5, 1952 with flying colors. As a result, she received her first license as a Registered Nurse in Pennsylvania on December 10, 1952.

After graduating with a nursing degree, she started her first job at Jefferson Medical College Hospital as a Registered Nurse, kickstarting a career in nursing that spanned more than 15 years. Her first job as a staff nurse for a 16-bed medical ward led to a quick promotion within one year to Head Nurse with responsibility for a team of nurses, aides, orderlies and student nurses in the neurology ward. This experience set the tone for her career as she received responsibility for progressively larger wards and bigger teams providing patient services. Before Gloria retired, she held nursing licenses in four states/district: Pennsylvania, California, Ohio, and the District of Columbia. With a lifelong commitment to learning and caring for others, Gloria maintained her nursing license in DC until 2002.

While working at George Washington University Hospital in Washington, DC, Gloria met her future spouse, Silas Michael Babin, Jr. (“Mike”), a doctor and dashing polo player, when he asked if he could buy her an ice cream cone on her break. In 1988, she and Mike were blessed with Prince LB (short for Prince Lover Boy), an apricot red poodle, who accompanied them everywhere and supervised their garden patch labors near Lilly’s farm.

Gloria loved to travel. Before and after she married, Gloria travelled to Barbados, Brazil, Spain, the Netherlands, Portugal, Japan, Hong Kong, England, Egypt, Russia, Australia, Germany, Turkey, Chile, Argentina, and the Falkland Islands. She and Mike resided in Nice, France for short periods so Mike could “brush up” on his French language skills.

After Gloria retired from nursing, she spent her time volunteering as a docent for the Smithsonian, National Museum of American History, and supporting the National Symphony Orchestra, the Kennedy Center.

Gloria was predeceased by her parents and her husband. She is survived by her brother-in-law, Joseph “Joe” Babin and his wife, Vera, plus numerous nieces and nephews.

A service for Gloria will be held at Murphy Funeral Home, 4510 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, VA 22203, on February 17, 2024 at 12:30 p.m. She will be interred with Mike at Columbia Gardens Cementery, 3411 Arlington Blvd, Arlington, VA 22201, at 2:30 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Smithsonian or Chestnut Hill Hospital in Philadelphia, both organizations Gloria felt strongly about and supported for most of her adult life.