On November 30, 1945, a girl was born named Gloria Ann Swope.  Her parents, Everett and Clara loved her so much.  Gloria was everyone's little girl.  She was the only little girl born in the Johnson family for a long time.  Her aunts, Sue, Mary, Ludie, and Sis, used to keep her for the entire summer.  Her mother actually got jealous and stopped her from spending so much time with them.

While she lived on Findlay Street, she stayed in an apartment house with her cousins Elizabeth, Gertrude, and Joe.  To get extra money to buy candy, she would take her mother's jewelry, pawn it, and get it back.  Her mother never knew what happened.  Yes, she was precocious.  She was a little entertainer and loved to sing.  Gloria would use her hairbrush and pretend she was Aretha Franklin.  She would do odd jobs.  She even parked cars when she was around thirteen years old.

Gloria attended Central High School.  She was the first African-American voted Homecoming Queen.  Her two best friends were Ruthie and Dorothy.  Unfortunately, Gloria was not blessed to have children.  Her first godchild was her niece, Tonya Grier.  After Gloria's best friends had children; all but one became her godchildren.

Gloria met her first love in High School.  She married Eugene while he served in the military.  Distance later tore them apart.  She met Woodrow sometime later.  She instantly fell in love with his son, Cedric. Gloria was the only mother he had known.  Gloria and Cedric were a team.  She attended his games and whatever else was going on with him at the time.  Even though things didn't work out with his dad, they still remained extremely close.

Gloria was visiting her brother Bob.  A man named Carl always would drop by to see her.  They became friends.  Gloria would tell him about whatever heartbreak she was going through.  Carl told Dot, Gloria's sister-in-law, he really liked her. Dot replied, "You need to get a job."  Well, Carl started working. The next time when she was crying over a bad relationship, he said: "Why would you have all of these knuckleheads, when you have the one you need right here in front of you."  The rest is history.  Gloria married Carl on December 31, 1987.  She knew; finally, she had found the man she always been looking for.  They were together until her untimely death for thirty years.  He was her best friend, partner, confidant, and lover.

She was always working.  As a teen, she was a hair fashion model for cousin, Gert.  Later she worked at US Playing Cards and Signature Inn.  On June 28, 1988, Gloria started working at Christ Hospital in Environmental Services.  She loved working there.  She was friends with everyone including administrators, supervisors, nurses, and co-workers. Her retirement on June 27, 2008, was one of the biggest they had ever had.

Gloria loved to have fun.  She loved going to the casinos, movie day, and celebrations.  She never met a stranger.  Everyone was Gloria's friend.  John Lewis, Claudia Hurst, and Betty Ard are three of her good friends. Neither wanted to settle on just being a friend.  Now they are the family's brother and sisters. This is a testament to how much she was loved.  A girl, who at seventeen could not have children to a woman who had a child and so many godchildren and friends, it is too numerous to mention.

Gloria was a spiritual person. She accepted Christ as a teen.  She sang in the choir, even though she couldn't sing.  She believed in treating people the way she would want to be treated.   This stayed with her for the rest of her life.  Gloria preceded her spouse Carl Reid, a son Cedric McDonald, two siblings, Robert Grier and Deborah Swope, nieces, Shannon Mitchell (Tony) and Chadashah Yisrael, brothers-in-law, George Reid and Gene Mays (Tracy), sister-in-law, Iris Hall and a host of great nieces and nephews.

Gloria was my sister who I truly loved with all of my heart.  She was my best friend.  A person I shared my secrets, hopes, and dreams.  We were two peas in a pod.  I know she loved me and  I felt the same about her.  As a teen, Gloria wanted mom to take me back where I came from; after I got on her last nerve.  She didn't want a little sister anymore.  She even told me I was adopted.  We ended up being each other;  champion and would fight for each other.  She will be missed, and I will carry her in my heart forever.  Debbie.

God has a reason for allowing things to happen.

We may never understand his wisdom but we simple have to trust his will. Psalm 37:5

Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation come from him; Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress. I will never be shaken. Psalm 62:1-2

Visitation is from 10:00 am until 11:00 am, on Saturday, June 9, 2018, at the Walker Funeral Home - Walnut Hills, 1025 E. McMillan Street, Cincinnati (45206). The funeral service will immediately follow the visitation beginning at 11:00 am. Interment will follow at Vine Street Hill Cemetery, 3701 Vine Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45220. To share a memory of Gloria or leave a special message for the Reid family, please click the Share Button below. Walker Funerals and Cremations of Cincinnati is serving the Reid family. Please call (513) 251-6200 or visit www.WalkerFuneralHome.com for additional information.

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