ForeverMissed
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Her Life
January 2, 2018

Gloria was determined, spirited, proud, elegant, and highly opinionated; she was a go-getter and a fierce protector, with British wit and a sometimes-fiery temperament. Gloria loved passionately. She also felt other people’s worries, problems, burdens and pains to a fault, spending hours worrying about, listening to, praying for, counseling, and “arranging the affairs” of her friends and family alike (and sometimes even strangers). She was enormously proud of her family, of the generations before her with their rich and proud history and accomplishments, of her contemporaries, and of her children and grandchildren. Gloria was a connector, always bridging different groups of her friends and family; and an encourager and a cheerleader to many friends and family.  We give thanks for her love and her legacy.  Glory to God in the Highest!

January 2, 2018

Gloria loved Jesus all her life.  As a young girl, she prayed to know Jesus and to “catch the holy ghost” like her dear aunt, “Tante” (Cerue King Gibson). Her aunt was so moved by Glo’s desire to know Jesus that after observing her praying fervently, she gave Gloria five dollars, which seemed like a fortune to young Gloria. In the later years of her life, she spent hours every day in devotion, study and prayer to her Lord.

January 2, 2018

Gloria loved her children dearly and devoted her life to raising them.  She personally taught her three daughters in primary school and she directed the Christmas pageants that her daughters participated in. Gloria was a devoted stay-at-home mom throughout her son’s life. Once her grandchildren arrived though, they became the “joy and pride of her life”, as she would tell them.

January 2, 2018

Born into a family of talented cooks and bakers, Gloria was a great lover of good food.  She truly savoured great cuisine, especially when it was well-presented and most especially if it was Liberian food prepared the way her mother and aunts did so well.

January 2, 2018

Gloria was a lover of music: soul, jazz, bossa nova, African, classic r&b, and classical (and Bob Marley too). She loved good music and great singers, but couldn't carry a tune to save her life. She loved interior decorating and ALL things about the British royal family. She loved to travel and one of her favourite trips was to Rio de Janeiro because it had the perfect combination of warm people, delicious food, great music, beautiful beaches and mountain vistas.

Gloria was always up-to-date on current events and world affairs, and she was a lover and student of history, politics, and journalism (and she was a fan of the game show, Jeopardy). She was an avid reader and a gifted writer and orator. She always said that in another life, she would have loved to have been a journalist. An idealist in her college days, she volunteered for Bobby Kennedy’s presidential campaign and was devastated when he was shot and killed. 

January 2, 2018

Gloria was twice married and divorced at the time of her death. She was first married to her childhood sweetheart, Clarence Weefur (they had 3 daughters: Didi, Teri and Tashi).  She married again to a Gambian diplomat, Francis Blain, Sr. (they had one child – her only son, Francis, Jr.). She also shared a special relationship with the children of her cousins, her “nieces” and “nephews”, several of whom lived in her home a part of her family for a period of time.

Gloria was a trained Montessori teacher and she taught and administered primary school in Liberia for over a decade.  She later transitioned into working in corporate public relations and as a talented property/real estate manager. 

January 2, 2018

Gloria had the fondest memories of her childhood in Bomi Hills, Liberia. She loved the friendships she made there and the experiences and adventures they shared. When she was a little girl, Gloria and her mother traveled several times by ship from Liberia to Europe and to the United States. She had fond memories of those trips. Gloria was sent to boarding school in England at the age of 8 where she lived and went to school until after high school when she matriculated to college in Washington, D.C.  She spent fun-filled vacations at home in Liberia every year.

January 2, 2018

Her father, Robert, was a civil engineer, trained at Tuskegee Institute. Robert worked for a joint Liberia-American mining concession in Bomi Hills, Liberia. He was responsible for the construction of the highway between Bomi Hills and Monrovia. Her mother, Theresa, was a trained Nutritionist/Dietitian. At one time, she owned and managed a popular restaurant in Monrovia and she also managed the Pan-American Airways staff commissary in Bomi Hills, Liberia. Gloria’s beloved father, Robert died when she was 15 years old and her mother lived nearly another two decades afterwards. Gloria and her mother were completely and utterly devoted to one another.

January 2, 2018

She shared a special relationship with her mother’s sisters, whom she regarded as her other mothers. She had several first cousins whom she grew up with and who were like siblings to her all her life long: Mac, Enid, Milly, Joyce, Mimi, Retta, and Remi.  She had life-long friendships -- from birth, from kindergarten, from boarding school in England -- as well as many wonderful friends from all the chapters of her life.

December 18, 2017

Roberta Gloria Sherman Blain, better known as “Gloria”, “Glo”, “Glo-Glo” was born on July 1st, 1948 in Monrovia, Liberia.  Gloria was the only child of her parents, long-awaited, which is why they named her Gloria – giving glory to God.  She was the apple of her parents’ eyes. She always said that she was their “doll-baby” and that her parents put her on a pedestal and spoiled her with love.