Gloria Lea Jacobson

Gloria Lea Jacobson of Hanford, California passed away peacefully while surrounded by her loving family on June 15th, 2026, at the age of ninety-one. Gloria was born to George and Lillian Kerley on February 5th, 1935, in Bremerton, Washington.

Gloria always had a penchant for reading and would spend countless hours immersing herself in her favorite literary works. In fact, after reading all the books in her grade school classrooms, her teachers would often send her to the school library so she could satisfy her insatiable desire to read everything that was ever put to print! From an early age, she felt a deep desire to help those in need and knew that nursing would help her fulfill that passion for service. No doubt her love of reading prepared her for the volumes of knowledge that she would need to absorb on the road to becoming a nurse.

In 1950, at the age of fifteen, Gloria met the love of her life, Derald “Jake” Jacobson, a strapping young 19-year-old who had moved to Bellingham, Washington from Billings, Montana. Before long, dating led to marriage on December 26th, 1955. Two years later, in 1957, Gloria celebrated her graduation from Loma Linda University with a BS in nursing and soon welcomed their first bundle of joy, Sandi, to the family. It is well known that children rarely read the book “How to Be a Child,” and Sandi was no exception. Before long, Gloria and Jake discovered all the right things to say and all the right things to do. Not surprisingly, one of Gloria’s first jobs as a licensed health care provider was as a labor and delivery nurse at the local hospital!

In 1959, two years into her nursing career, Gloria and Jake joyously celebrated the birth of their second daughter, Cindy. It was then that they realized all they had learned about raising a child would need to be revisited, as it soon became obvious that Cindy had not read the “How to Be a Child” book either. Just when they thought that their family life had reached the heights of happiness, Sheryl, their third child, arrived in 1965 to remind them that God had one more blessing in store for them. By this time, Gloria had authored her own book titled “How a Child Should Be” and read it to Sheryl every night before bedtime. The growing family was now complete.

For the next forty or so years, Gloria continued her career in nursing caring for patients in Sacramento, San Diego, and Sonora, California. A large part of that time, she was a faculty member in the nursing program in Sonora where she mentored the next generation of aspiring nurses. She was known by her students to be a demanding but fair instructor, Gloria felt that her legacy of caring for the health of others would live on through the good works of her nursing students. In fact, as a nursing faculty member, she was proud to “pin” her daughter Cindy when she graduated from her LVN program.

Throughout her life, Gloria loved to learn new things. She always felt that the mind, much like muscles, could only stay healthy and grow if it were exercised. She found both challenge and reward in learning new languages that included Spanish and French. On many occasions, she would help non-English speakers master English through engaging conversations. Gloria enjoyed photography immensely. She worked tirelessly trying to get that “perfect shot,” whether the subject was a field of flowers, the gentle slope of an alpine mountain, or the numerous family celebrations that had most of the family saying “C’mon, Grandma. You said it was the last picture a while ago!” She was also a world traveler and never missed an opportunity to visit other countries to take in the rich history of her own roots and appreciated every opportunity to learn about the many varied cultures that make up our world. She often said that her favorite trips were those that she took with her family, often serving as a cultural tour guide for her daughters.

Gloria is survived by her three daughters Sandi (Daugherty), Cindy (Dominguez), and Sheryl (Bickner), her sister Virginia (Ingham), her brother George (Kerley), seven grandchildren, and eleven great grandchildren. Each will forever remember Gloria’s love of animals (especially cats), appreciation of nature and the outdoors, unwavering support for the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team, fun tea parties (for the grandchildren and great grandchildren), and showing that a grandmother’s love is unconditional and limitless.

She will forever be missed by all those whose lives she touched both in service and in friendship. May her memory live on and be cherished in the hearts and minds of all who were fortunate enough to call her family and friend.