Gloria J. (Weirich) Milspaw

Gloria Jean Weirich Milspaw passed on November 15, 2023. She was 101 years old.  She was a wonderful mother and grandmother, an excellent musician, an artist, beautiful, personable, articulate, and thoughtful. She was born on North Union Street in Middletown on February 27, 1922, to James and Louella (Cleland) Weirich. She also passed while living on North Union Street.

In her sophomore year of high school, she became the first ever female drum major for the Middletown High School Band. The school bought her new pants for the job, but her mother had to alter the jacket to fit her. Her cape was still man-sized, and she had to stuff her hat with newspapers so it wouldn’t fall over her eyes.

She attended West Chester State Teachers College for two years as a music major, but had to drop out, due to the Depression and to World War II. She took the Civil Service exam and scored extremely high on it. However, she was told that women couldn’t be given the higher-level jobs, which were “reserved for men with families to feed,” so she was simply given a typewriter and became a secretary.  It was there that she met her future husband, Captain (later Lt Colonel) Lynn G Milspaw, an engineer and Air Force pilot. They were married in 1944. During her life, Gloria sang in and directed church choirs and various music groups. She arranged music for trios, quartettes, quintettes, sextettes and for ad hoc bands for special church services. She studied watercolor and began to paint—beautifully. Within a few years she was a signature member (and President) of the Utah Watercolor Association, and later became a signature member of the Pennsylvania Watercolor Association. She also earned a degree in Interior Design, set up a small business and took up skiing. As one of her long-time friends said of her, “Whatever she does, she does well!”

Gloria stayed active throughout her life. She did daily crossword puzzles, read exciting novels (she was a great fan of James Patterson) exercised, ate her vegetables, and stayed interested in politics. She continued to draw with colored pencils and wrote and illustrated a book of nursery rhymes she and her friends remembered to give her oldest great-grandchild. She was meticulous about her appearance.

Gloria has one daughter, Yvonne, and her husband Douglas, two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, December 2, 2023 at 11 AM at the Oak Hill Manor Chapel, 1020 N. Union St., Middletown, PA. Burial will be private at the Middletown Cemetery, Middletown. 

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