Gloria June Campbell Bridges

Gloria June Campbell Bridges, age 90, went peacefully home to God on Thursday, March 13, 2025. Services will be held on Thursday, March 20, 2025 at the Ponca United Methodist Church, Ponca, Nebraska with Reverend Debra Tompsett-Welch officiating. Visitation is Scheduled for 6:00 p.m. followed by a service at 7:00 p.m. A grave side memorial service will be held near her home in West Virginia at a later date. The Mohr and Becker-Hunt Funeral Home has assisted the family with arrangements.

Gloria June was born on September 17, 1934, in the Gentry Hollow Coal Camp near Layland, West Virginia. She lived there for a brief time before moving to Springdale, West Virginia with her mother and two siblings where she lived for most of the rest of her life. In 2020, Gloria moved into the Bickford Memory Care facility in Sioux City, Iowa near her daughter, Myra.

Her life and passion were dedicated to teaching children in southern West Virginia for almost forty years. Students often approached her when she was out and about to thank her for her love, attention and wonderful instruction. One parent said her daughter even wanted to dress like Gloria. Gloria taught on Backus Mountain in 1954 for one semester; at Meadow Bridge High School, her alma mater, as an English and Physical Education teacher from 1957-1959; then as a first-grade teacher at Meadow Bridge Elementary from 1959-1995. She also taught for three summers in the Head Start program at Meadow Bridge Elementary when it was initially launched in 1965.

Gloria June graduated from Meadow Bridge High School, Meadow Bridge, WV; received her B.S. from Concord College, Athens, WV; and earned a M.A. from West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV. She also did extensive postgraduate work through the West Virginia College of Graduate Studies in Institute, West Virginia.

Gloria was an active lifetime member of the Springdale First Baptist Church where she taught Sunday School for many years. Her strong faith helped her through the difficult times in her life. She was a devout reader, loved her morning coffee over a crossword puzzle before heading off to school and could beat almost anyone at a game of Scrabble. In the late 1970s and into the 1980s, she devoted her life and love to providing home care for her mother, Grace, who had Alzheimer’s.

After her mother’s death, Gloria June eventually remarried and she and her husband, Dale, enjoyed many years of golf and traveling the country. She even has the claim to fame of a hole-in-one in Gulfport, Mississippi. She and Dale also frequented jam sessions at the Gospel Mission in Meadow Bridge, WV. Dale once said of Gloria, “Our creator never had a more faithful servant, an angel on earth, who never said a harsh word about anyone.”

As a Bickford Memory Care resident, Gloria was known for singing while clapping her hands. Sometimes she sang so fast she sounded like an auctioneer. When musicians performed in the facility, she often danced. Watching her joy put a smile on her caregivers’ faces and they put a smile on hers.

Gloria’s family will be forever grateful for the loving care given by a friend, Lila Fiscus, the Bickford staff and the St. Croix Hospice staff. She felt your love and loved you back.

Gloria is lovingly remembered by her son, David (Deborah) Alley of Princeton, WV; her daughter, Myra Alley (John) Kingsbury of Ponca, NE and a son, Michael Anderson of Seaside, Oregon. She had no grandchildren but is affectionately remembered by her nieces, Rebecca and Deborah and their children as Granny June.

She was preceded in death by her mother, Grace Louise Walker Campbell, her father William Adam Campbell, her brother, William Gene Campbell, her sister, Eleanor Louise Ralston, her first husband, John Royal Alley, Jr., second husband, Arnold Ray Anderson and third husband, Kermit Dale Bridges.

In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to the Concord University Foundation and mailed to P.O. Box 570, Ponca, NE 68770. All donations will be given to The Hope Chest Scholarship at Concord University in Athens, West Virginia.