Gloria Helen Brake was born October 18, 1934, to Helen (Badock) and Robert Bercot at the home her grandparents built on West Monroe St. in Springfield, Illinois. She passed away July 5th, 2026, at Mountain Vista Senior Living Community in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, at the age of 91.
She attended Dubois Elementary School in Springfield, Illinois, and graduated from Springfield High School in 1950.
Gloria worked for Illinois Bell telephone as a switchboard operator in the 1950s, then attended training to be a nurse’s aide. She worked as a nurse’s aide in the pediatrics department at Memorial Hospital until that department was eliminated. She then worked as a surgery technician preparing surgical instrument trays, until she retired in 1999.
Gloria married Robert E. Brake in Springfield, Illinois, on June 18, 1955, and had two children, Teresa Ann Brake and Michael Robert Brake.
She will be joyfully reunited with her parents, Helen and Robert; husband, Robert; and grandson, Kyle Richard.
She is survived by her brother, William (Nancy) Bercot of Milton, Florida; daughter, Teresa Brake of Springfield, Illinois; son, Michael (Diane) of Wheat Ridge, Colorado; grandchildren, Tyler Aaron Brake of Grand Junction, Colorado, and Joshua (Kayla) Michael Brake of Denver, Colorado; and great-grandchildren, Juniper (4), Knox (2), Jacob (4 mo).
Services were held at Grace Fellowship of Lakewood, in Colorado.
Graveside Ceremony: 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, July 22, 2026, at Calvary Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois, with Rev. James Isaacson, S.J.C. officiating.
Please make donations to the Animal Protective League of Springfield, Illinois, in lieu of flowers.
The family is being served by Butler Funeral Home – Springfield, 900 S. Sixth St., Springfield, Illinois.
Please visit www.butlerspringfield.com to offer your condolences.
