Contributed by Kate Gaddis, alumna
Gloria Jean passed away last August at the age of 92. I was very fortunate and blessed to have had the honor and pleasure of calling her a friend.
Gloria Jean Schoonover was an actress and singer in the 1940s and early 50s. She is mostly known for her films “The Under-pup” and “Copacabana.”
I was first introduced to Gloria through email by a friend of mine. The next thing you know I received an email from Gloria and a friendship began.
Gloria lived in Hawaii with her son and his family. She emailed me about her four grandchildren and how proud she was of them. She also talked about her amazing career as an actress.
In April 2015, after a few months of emailing – I got a surprise call from her! I didn’t recognize the number but I did recognize the caller ID location. I thought to myself that I know one person that lives in Hawaii, let me take this call. She was on the other side of the line.
“Hello?” I said. “Kate?” said the small and meek voice on the other side. “Yes?” I replied. “This is Gloria Jean,” she said. I was astounded.
We began talking. She noticed in my email that I was a fan of a woman named Deanna Durbin. She had a lot to tell me about Deanna and other stories.
Gloria’s love for her family was so apparent. She has four grandchildren. Her oldest granddaughter Julia, who is a talented artist, remembers this, “Grandma Gloria was so flamboyant and so funny. She was also so very positive and she always was so appreciative of everything.”
To me, Gloria Jean was a woman who knew how to walk people through their hardships. For me, she got me out of a very toxic relationship, through college and to learn how to love myself. I think that she knew how to get people to know how much they were loved.
Gloria was also known for her comedic stories about Hollywood, which included women such as Deanna Durbin, Helen Parrish and Bonita Granville.
Gloria was a family woman and adored her grandchildren and doted on them often. She was always so proud of them. She has four grandchildren, each of who are into different things. Her oldest granddaughter went into illustration and she is amazing. Her second oldest granddaughter went to film school for screenwriting and her last two grandchildren – one is into marine biology and her youngest grandchild, her grandson, is into music.
As I write this, I was just so lucky to call Gloria Jean Schoonover a friend. She always had the right things to say and how to be a good friend.
I miss Gloria so dearly and I wish she was still here. I was lucky enough to have her in my life and I am beyond blessed.
