Noria L. Gerig

Noria was born in Roxana, Kentucky, in 1942 to Eddie Glenn Stidham and Hazel Marie Raleigh. She spent most of her childhood on a small farm in Eastern Kentucky and moved with her family to Baltimore, Maryland when she was 13 years old. Noria graduated from Patterson Park High School in 1960 and began working as a secretary at a law firm. With the encouragement of her boss, she applied for airline stewardess positions at several airlines and joined United Airlines in 1964. Based at JFK International Airport she flew domestic routes on Lockheed Constellation and Boeing 727 aircraft. In 1968 she was promoted to Supervisor and oversaw Stewardess flight crews operating out of the airport.

In 1969, Noria caught the eye of Warren Gerig, Jr., who was working as a gate agent for United Airlines. Their romance grew and fittingly they were married in the JFK International Airport’s Protestant Chapel on May 30, 1970. Over the next 35 years, as Warren advanced upward in management, they first moved to airports across the United States and then to airports in Southeast Asia. Shortly after their marriage they were transferred to Laguardia Airport where Noria left management and resumed her duties as a flight attendant. Over the next 20 years they worked at Stapleton International Airport in Denver, the O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, and the Newark Liberty International Airport, in Newark, New Jersey. In the early 1990s, they were transferred to Southeast Asia where Warren occupied senior management positions for United Airlines in the Philippines, Taipei, Taiwan, and finally Bangkok, Thailand. During these years Noria continued to fly international routes and in 2022, after 38 years, she retired from United Airlines as one of their most senior flight attendants.

Noria had deep roots in this country and was proud of her American heritage. She was a student of history and enjoyed reading about her European ancestors on both the Stidham and Raleigh side of her family. Her earliest Stidham ancestor, Tymen Stidham, was a member of the Swedish colony that arrived in 1638 and founded the town of Wilmington, Delaware. She also had ancestors who fought in the American Revolution, including a member of the Hamilton Clan in Scotland, and became a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1998.

Both Noria and Warren loved to travel together and explore the world. Over the years they travelled extensively in Europe and spent two weeks every summer in London for 28 years. Noria especially enjoyed visiting Paris and Scotland, the ancestral home of her Hamilton ancestor. In Asia they toured Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, China, and India. In Africa they went on photo safaris to Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa. One of Noria’s most memorable trips was a cruise to Antarctica where she was overwhelmed by its beauty and enjoyed trying to make friends with the penguins.

In 2005, after Warren retired from United Airlines they settled in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Noria developed a passion for playing mahjong during her years in Southeast Asia and enjoyed playing regularly with the mahjong club at her Gleneagle Community. Noria and Warren joined the First Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs in 2005, where she was active in her church community and was honored to serve as a Deacon and communion server. She was inducted into the Zebulon Pike Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in September 2006, and was a very active member of this organization.

She is survived by her loving husband of 56 years, Warren Charles Gerig, Jr., and her sisters Margie Alice Green or Sykesville, Maryland, and Lyla Ruth Van Rompaey, of Seattle, Washington. She was preceded in death by her son Darren Marshall Gerig, her brother Carlos Edward Stidham, and her parents Eddie Glenn Stidham and Hazel Marie Raleigh.

A funeral service will be held on April 9th, 2026, at 1PM at the First Presbyterian Church, 219 E Bijou St, Colorado Springs, Colorado. The family will gather for Noria’s interment at the Pikes Peak National Cemetery in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on April 14th.