Gloria grew up in Franconia Township and graduated from Chi-Hi. After graduating from the University of Minnesota with a degree in Art Education, she taught art in Australia for two years before returning to the Chisago Lakes area. She taught in the Taylors Falls school for fourteen years, and Chisago Lakes Middle School for eighteen years. Gloria has retired from teaching and has become a full-time artist.
As a member of the Bluebird Recovery Program of Minnesota, Gloria monitors a bluebird trail of 40 (20 pairs) bluebird houses at Wild River State Park. Once a week she looks inside each house to see what’s happening (nests, eggs, chicks, removing nests after the chicks have fledged). She writes down data and submits an end of the year report. For each of the last eight years, more than 100 new bluebirds have emerged from this bluebird trail.