Winifred Mary Glore

Elizabeth and Edward Pitt. Her Father gave her the nickname “Jan.” When she started school at St.

Mary’s Convent in Stafford, she was not aware her name was Winifred. When one of the Nuns

addressed her by her formal name, her older brother’s Frank and Bill had to assure her that Winifred

was actually her name.

When World War II was declared Jan was 17 years old. As everyone was given a job in the war effort,

she was a fire watcher. She and other young women would watch for any fires that broke out as a

result of Nazi planes bombing the midland valley where Stafford is located. At 18, Jan trained as a

nurse and then served in the British Red Cross working in the field hospital at Aldershot.

Home on leave, she and her best friend decided to go see a movie. In those days tickets for movies

were purchased much like theatre tickets, you were assigned a seat and row. As they were walking

to the movie theatre Jan and her friend were approached by two American GI’s who asked for

directions to the Movie Theatre, as that’s where they were headed Jan told the GI’s to walk with

them. On the walk, from the old roman bridge, to the theatre the Gi’s struck up a conversation with

the girls. When the foursome arrived at the theatre and before she knew what was happening one

of the GI’s, Donald had taken their previously purchased tickets and was exchanging them so they

could all sit together in the theatre. When the movie ended, they were saying their good nights and

Donald asked Jan what she was doing the next day. She said that she was going to church, as it was

Sunday. He asked where, she told him, never expecting that he would turn up at church, but he did.

Once Jan returned to service, Donald still visited her parents bringing them items that they couldn’t

get because of rationing. As he and Jan were not exclusively dating, Jan was also seeing a British

Flier luckily for Jan she was able to juggle her dates as Donald and the British Chap were on opposite

schedules. Jan said the only time this arrangement presented a problem was when there was fog.

On those occasions she says that Donald would just spend the evening with her parents. His

persistence won. Donald and Jan were married December 2, 1944.

Donald who was in the 8th Airforce and a reconnaissance photographer and after D‐Day and VE Day

he was sent back stateside in July of 1945 for redeployment to the Pacific Theatre, Jan had to remain

in England. While Donald was home on leave, Japan surrendered so his deployment was cancelled.

Jan was finally cleared to join Donald in the US. She along with many other War‐brides were brought

to the US on the USAT Bridgeport. She arrived in New York on February 22, 1946. She liked the idea

of arriving in her new home on George Washington’s Birthday. She took the train from New York to

her new home in Miami.

Jan and Donald lived in Miami, Florida after the war, where Donald attended the University of

Miami. During this time, they welcome two daughter’s Pam in 1949 and Janis in 1951. After

graduating Donald was recalled into the Air Force due to the outbreak of the conflict in Korea. He

decided to make a career of the Airforce. He, Jan and their daughters were stationed in

Burtonwood, England; Boise, Idaho; Dayton, Ohio; Columbia, South Carolina, where Jan became a

US citizen in 1959 (her citizenship test, for which she had studied diligently, with Pam and Janis

quizzing her on US history facts, consisted of one question, "Who was the Prime Minister of England

during World War II?" She always had a good laugh telling this story) and their youngest daughter,

Patricia was born in 1960. Jan was active in the NCO Wives clubs serving in various leadership roles.

The family then moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Alconbury, England, where Jan ran the NCO club

Thrift Shop, a job which appealed to her love of antiques. The family’s final posting was in

Montgomery Alabama, Jan worked as a cashier at Darnell’s Dry Cleaners. It was during this posting

that they discovered that Donald had Kidney Cancer. After having a kidney removed, Donald retired.

Jan and he moved the family to Orlando where he worked as an IRS Agent until he was diagnosed

with Multiple Myeloma (Cancer of the Bone Marrow). Donald passed away in 1975.

After Donald’s passing Jan did not remarry, she traveled extensively taking trips across the US and

abroad with her daughters or would visit her family back in England. She worked briefly in retail and

never passed up a chance to play BINGO. Jan was a jewelry collector; the shinier the better, an avid

romance novel reader, a knitting enthusiast, supplying her whole family with hand knitted items

from scarves to afghans and was excessively fond of chocolate. She moved to Altamonte Springs in

2008 to live with her daughter Patty. Jan never met an animal she didn’t love (well, maybe a frog)

but she loved pet sitting for her daughter’s friends and neighbors and would usually refer to her

charges as her Cats or Dogs. They all adopted and loved her too. She turned 94 this past August and

had four grandchildren; David, Sam, Scott and Leah and five great grandchildren Aimee, Steven,

Nicholas, Andrew and Allison. She passed away quietly on November 17, 2018 with all three of her

daughters watching over her. Jan was quite a character and much loved by her family.