Gloria L. Adam

Gloria is survived by her husband of 57 years, Galen Adam, and two sons, Brian Claes (and wife Sandy) of San Jose and Dennis Claes (and wife Mary Ellen) of Colorado Springs CO, in addition to stepson Kevin Adam (and wife Michelle) of Fresno and sisters-in-law Jolene Stephenson of Madera and Jewell Hallberg of Fresno. She is also survived by grandsons Douglas and Adam, granddaughters Jill, Krista and Christy, great grandsons Kyle and Tyler and great granddaughter Eva, in addition to cousins, nephews and extended family. She was preceded in death by her parents and brother, Leland Hallberg, of Fresno.

Gloria was born to Axel and Signe Hallberg in San Jose CA. Her father, Axel, was a construction superintendent with Morrison Knudsen and, although their permanent home was in Turlock CA, Gloria and her parents would keep an apartment near his large construction projects, most of which were in various cities in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Gloria graduated from Turlock High School in 1945 and shortly thereafter married Calvin Claes of Turlock where they raised their family until their divorce in 1955. Gloria was very intelligent, precise and very good with numbers and so was drawn to accounting, first working in Turlock until she and her boys moved to Fresno in 1958. She continued her accounting career with Budd & Quinn in Fresno before taking a senior accounting position with the CA Division of Highways (now Cal Trans) in 1961 where she worked until her retirement in 1988. During her working years Gloria frequently enrolled in night school studying a variety of subjects including accounting and the Swedish language.

Gloria married her life-long friend, love and partner, Galen Adam, in March 1964 and made their home in north Fresno along with her two boys. In 2005, Gloria and Galen sold their home and moved to a senior living community, the Terraces at San Joaquin Gardens, where they resided, remaining devoted to each other until her passing. Together, they were looked up to by others as models of good character.

Gloria was very devoted to serving others and after her retirement, generously donated her time and energy while serving as volunteer, first to Hinds Hospice, followed by a 21-year career serving at California Eye Institute where her primary focus was helping patients preparing for eye surgery.

Gloria was voracious, life-long reader with, always it seems, a book in her hands, whether fiction or non-fiction. She also enjoyed challenges and problem-solving, which meant tackling large complex jigsaw puzzles and the daily New York Times crossword puzzles.

Beginning in 1979, Gloria and Galen enjoyed spending much of the warmer months at their cabin at Hume Lake, CA to relax from work and escape the Fresno heat. It was during these times that their cabin was where they called home, and she enjoyed decorating it with items connected to her Swedish heritage. Their cabin was also a frequent destination for visiting friends and family over the many years. There, in addition to her reading and puzzle-solving, she enjoyed playing card games like Rook and Kings Corners with their two boys and grandkids until the wee hours of the night, as well as daily strolls around the lake with Galen.

In the 1990’s through early 2000’s, when Galen and Gloria were not up at Hume Lake, you could most likely find them at their mobile home next to the beach near Morro Rock in Morro Bay, CA, where they frequently vacationed, enjoying the beautiful Central California coast. In many ways, their Morro Bay was like an alternative Hume Lake, with the added benefit of having three of her grandchildren attending Cal Poly University in nearby San Luis Obispo during their final years there, allowing another opportunity to enjoy each others’ company.

Gloria’s father and her mother’s family immigrated from Sweden in the early 1900’s initially settling in Kingsburg, CA. She was very invested in her Swedish heritage and stayed in contact with three generations of relatives in Sweden. She made four trips to Sweden, first with her parents in 1971, and then with Galen in 1975, 1989 and 1995 to visit as many of her relatives as they could. Also, she and Galen had the pleasure of hosting her boys’ third cousin, Lena Sodersten, of Stockholm, Sweden as a high school exchange student for the 1975/76 school year. During that year, while Lena was immersing herself in American culture, the Swedish element also was in focus with frequent visits to the Kingsburg area to visit their large extended family. Beginning with Gloria and her brother, each would don traditional Swedish costumes for photographs, a tradition that continued for succeeding generations.

Gloria was a dedicated disciple of Jesus Christ and was an active member of her church along with her family. Initially, they attended a Swedish Baptist Church in Turlock and, upon moving to Fresno, attended First Baptist Church before moving to the Evangelical Free Church of Fresno (now Bridge Evangelical Free Church) in 1963, where she and Galen attended, finally as members of the Ambassador class until she was physically unable to attend in her later years.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.boicefuneralhome.com for the Adam family.