Gloria Frances Oxley

COLUMBIA - A memorial service for Gloria Frances Oxley, 78, will be held at 11:00 a.m. Monday, March 30, 2026, at Dunbar Funeral Home, Devine Street Chapel, with burial in Greenlawn Memorial Park. The family will host a reception at the funeral home one hour prior to the service, at 10:00 a.m. A committal service will be held at the graveside at Greenlawn Memorial Park immediately following the service.

Ms. Oxley died Thursday, February 26, 2026. Born in Spartanburg, SC, she was the daughter of the late Robert Stephen and Eva Frances Horton Oxley.

She spent her high school years in Florida, and college at the University of South Carolina. She earned her master’s degree from the University of Iowa in Special Education. Gloria retired as a special education teacher from the South Carolina Department of Corrections, where she planned and implemented programs for 9th-12th grade students with disabilities, long before it was mainstream in public schools.

Gloria spent her adult life loving the outdoors, playing tennis, canoeing, sailing, and loved archaeology. Most of all, Gloria loved God, Israel, and her church community. She attended Gates to Zion Ministries and weekly bible studies. She was active in an intercessory prayer group, and she cared about the persecuted church. She was a generous giver, and gave regularly to ministries like Voice of the Martyr and Bridges For Peace.

Surviving are her sister, Gale Oxley Harper (Warren) and nieces, Christa Harper Geno (Brian), Jill Harper Miller (Paul), and Jennifer Harper Smarsch (Kenneth), all of Leesburg, VA.

In addition to her parents, she was predeceased by her sister, Stephanie I. Oxley.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to The Voice of the Martyrs, 1815 SE Bison Road, Bartlesville, OK 74006 - persecution.com/donate, or The Joshua Fund, PO Box 96486, Washington, DC 20090 - joshuafund.com, which were both dear to Gloria’s heart.

We would love memories to be shared at www.dunbarfunerals.com