Gloria Jean Redfield

Who was Gloria...She was a daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister-in-law, mother-in-law, cousin, aunt, nurse, volunteer, and church hostess. Gloria, born Gloria Jean Barlow on July 27, 1938 to Henry and Margaret Barlow in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. As as child, Gloria loved camping with her family and she loved to visit her Uncle Ed's farm. She lived in Wisconsin until she went to Hinsdale Sanitarium in Illinois for nursing school. There she met a young man, James Redfield, who was in the x-ray technician program, and they fell in love. Gloria's family moved to Loma Linda, California in 1958 and when Gloria and Jim graduated, she with her R.N. and he with his R.T., they too followed the family to California where they were married on January 17, 1960. Gloria soon found a job working at the Patton State Hospital and Jim at the Loma Linda University School of Dentistry. Gloria worked at Patton until they started their little family on January 28, 1962 when their first of three children Lori was born. Brent arrived a couple of years later on September 8, 1964, and then Cherilyn on October 16, 1966. Gloria remained a stay-at-home mom raising her three children and enjoying her married life with Jim. When her children were old enough to attend Loma Linda Elementary, she decided to return back to work and would fill-in for the school nurse. Eventually, she was offered a full time school nurse position at Loma Linda Academy and worked there until this past June, 2018, when she retired, 42 years. She loved being a school nurse, giving hugs to the children, putting band-aids on their cuts, giving ice packs for sore muscles, providing saltine crackers for snacks, and just offering a place for them to hang out for a little while. She was loved by students and teachers alike. She loved to camp and she traveled everywhere from Yosemite, Joshua Tree, Monument Valley, Utah, to Acadia, and Alaska. She loved road trips as a passenger...loved sight-seeing. She and Jim also went on several mission trips to set up dental equipment going to Monument Valley, Utah, Mexico, Zambia, and Bangladesh. Gloria loved to work on projects around the house. She and Jim would do everything, they even built their own house, with a little help from the kids and one or two others to build the fireplace. Jim built her a tree house, for the grandkids of course, but she decorated it just like she did her own house. He also built her a life-size doll house where she worked on her hobby of making porcelain dolls and animals with eyes that looked so real they would follow you around the room...lots of them. She loved to cook...Big Meals. She always wanted you to eat more and when you were full, especially at Thanksgiving, she would say, "Who's ready for pie"? She loved her family, each in their own way, and was willing to help anyway she could. Gloria loved working as a school nurse. She inspired two of her granddaughters to become nurses, Alison and Lindsey, and her niece Bonnie as well. Gloria had a positive influence on many, but her legacy will live on in the next generation of nurses she has inspired. She leaves her husband James, her three children and their spouses, Lori and Barry Davis, Brent and Paula Redfield, and Cherilyn and Nathan Mitre. Her grandchildren, Alison and Kevin Davis, Lindsey and Kayla Redfield, Clayton Mitre, Hannah and Jon Bonal, and Victoria and Clay Marunde. Her only granddaughter Chloe Marunde. Quite a legacy!

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