Gloria Joan De Pietro

Gloria Joan De Pietro was born on Nov. 20, 1933, to Rocco and Catherine (Caltabiano) De Pietro, in Los Angeles. The Great Depression gripped the United States, and dollars were scarce. Rocco, a professional tailor who immigrated to the United States from Roccanova, Italy, paid the doctor who delivered Gloria with a suit.
Gloria grew up in Los Angeles with Rocco and Catherine (who had immigrated to the United States from Sicily), her older sister, Mary Grace, and until age 6, her maternal grandmother, Marina Geraci.
Gloria grew up in the Catholic Church, receiving the sacraments of baptism, First Communion and confirmation. She was married at Cathedral Chapel in Los Angeles and received last rites one week before she passed from this Earth and in to the arms of God. She took comfort in her faith and often spoke of God. At St. Francis Church in Sherwood, she volunteered in the office, sang in the choir and participated in the seniors' group.
Gloria was an outstanding student, graduating 18th in her class at Los Angeles High School in 1951. She began her college career at the University of Southern California, where she was a member of Alpha Omicron Pi sorority. She left USC to work, but earned her Associate in Arts degree at Santa Monica City College in 1960, and her bachelor's degree at San Fernando State College in 1969.
Music (particularly classical music and opera) was a beloved part of Gloria's life. She began playing the piano at age 5, and went on to play professionally in Carmelita Maracci's ballet studio in Los Angeles while still a teenager. It was there that Gloria became enamored with ballet. She named her daughter Giselle after the 19th century classic ballet, "Giselle," and was delighted to see her granddaughter Ohara become an accomplished ballerina more than 30 years later. Gloria continued playing piano into her 80s, and was terrifically proud of her grandson Isaac, who also began playing as a child and became an outstanding pianist. As a girl, Gloria also played the violin. She was thrilled that two of her grandchildren, Ohara and Josiah, also took up violin, excelling in their respective orchestras.
Along with music, Gloria appreciated other arts. She liked to draw, especially horses, women's faces, and trees. She did calligraphy and embroidery, knitted sweaters, afghans and scarves; and made items with clay. In the late 1970s, she began collecting antiques, marveling at the beauty of the craftsmanship. She had a special fondness for antique clocks, and enjoyed hearing them tick and chime.
Gloria helped design the house she had built on Bald Peak in the Chehalem Mountains in 1989. She lived there, on six treed acres, for 25 years. She had the name of her home, "Singing Trees," crafted in to the wrought-iron gate on the driveway. She loved the beauty of nature and spent much of her free time working on her property and hiking up and down Bald Peak. She loved trees so much that she actually hugged a large oak tree behind her house after moving in – and was rewarded with an itchy case of poison oak.
In February 1955, Gloria married James "Jim" Francis Price, who had pursued her while they attended Los Angeles High School. The couple had three children: Jeffrey Dominic, Eric James, and Giselle Victoria. Jim left the family in 1965. Gloria was devastated. But her strength came to the fore, and despite her pain and sorrow, she raised her three children on her own while working fulltime and completing her bachelor's degree. While she trained to be a teacher, she realized that that was not the profession for her. Because she enjoyed being active and outdoors, she began working for the U.S. Postal Service in 1969. She took pride in her work, delivering mail in blazing heat, bone-chilling rain and everything in between. She demonstrated a vigorous work ethic, taking on as much overtime as she could. She was the first female letter carrier in McMinnville, Oregon (in 1977). She retired from the Postal Service (Hillsboro office) at age 69, in 2003.
"Exercise is the fountain of youth," Gloria often said. She was blessed with physical strength and agility, and was usually the first student picked for teams during P.E. in grammar school. As a girl and young woman, she played volleyball and tennis, and swam.
Gloria was one of the original health nuts, always promoting wholesome foods – although in her later years, she became fond of chocolate! Her other favorite foods: coffee with lots of cream; crisp, red apples; salads, and popcorn. She started running in the early 1970s in California, ran a half-marathon in Aberdeen, Wash., and kept it up for many more years. One of her favorite activities until the end was walking – especially outdoors amidst the beauty of nature. In her late 70s and early 80s, she practiced tai chi with friends at the Newberg Senior Center.
Gloria enjoyed doing crossword puzzles and word searches, and playing games – Scrabble, Bananagrams, Sorry, Uno, Clue, Life or anything else her family might present. She liked game shows, too – "Jeopardy!" and "Wheel of Fortune."
Above all, Gloria treasured her three children. In her later years, her favorite activity was spending time with her children and grandchildren. She was our biggest fan. She was dependable, always supportive, cheered us on, and wanted us to be happy and successful.
Twelve years ago, our mother designed and had created a unique, green (her favorite color) granite marker for her grave site at St. James Catholic Cemetery.
On one side, it lists her children's names:
Jeffrey Dominic
Eric James
Giselle Victoria
Below our names, it reads, in Latin:
"To my children
My love
Forever"
We love you, Mom, now and forever.
Gloria Joan De Pietro is survived by her sister and nephew, Mary Bodde and Brad Bodde of Eagle River, Alaska; her three children - Jeff Price of Santa Monica, Calif., Eric (Dee) Price of Hillsboro, and Giselle Price Williams of Tualatin – and eight grandchildren (Ohara, Erin and Leora – Jeff); Isaac, Josiah, Abigail and Micah (Eric); and Nicholas (Giselle).
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