Gloria Ann Graff

December 6, 1943 - April 14, 2018

On December 6, 1943, a beautiful baby girl was born to Jesse Root Gathercoal and Geraldine Joy Peterson. They named her Gloria Ann. She grew up in California with her older sister Ginny, and her younger sister and brother Claudia and Jack. When Gloria was little, she loved to go swimming and horse riding, and she loved playing in the mud to make pies. In 1952, when Gloria was eight, missionaries taught her family and they decided to be baptized. Gloria got to be baptized on the same day as her sister Ginny and her dad, which was pretty special for her. As she got older, Gloria loved going to mutual. She learned how to dance there, and every year there was a dance festival. She also enjoyed participating in the road show where she got to act and dance some more. In eighth grade, she was a cheerleader at Daniel Webster Junior High. As a teenager, she did a lot of babysitting, for 25 cents an hour. She also got a job working in a donut shop. She always said the best part about working at the donut shop, was you could fill a donut with as much cream filling as you wanted! After high school, Gloria attended Nursing School at Brigham Young University. She loved learning how to help people feel better. While at BYU, she began dating her home teacher, Jonathan Kirk Graff. When he first proposed to her, she said no. But the second time he asked, she said yes. They were sealed for time and all eternity in the Salt Lake City Temple on September 2, 1966. They lived in Oklahoma, Georgia, and South Carolina, before settling in Utah for the last 42 years. Gloria became the mother of one son, Jonathan, and five daughters; Melanie, Julianna, Andrea, Elaina, and Marianne. She was a very loving and wonderful mother. Gloria was fun and feisty and had a great sense of humor. She loved baking and always made birthdays special for her kids by decorating their cakes however they wanted. She also made the very best chocolate chip cookies ever. She loved working in her flower garden because she loved making things beautiful. She was very talented at sewing and made all kinds of Halloween costumes, clothes, and even prom dresses. Gloria also taught her children the value of hard work by having them help her with the vegetable garden. All together they would pick the peas and shell them after she had blanched them. They picked and cut green beans and she canned them. This continued with tomatoes, cherries, peaches and applesauce. She taught her kids to work quickly and well. She taught them to have fun while doing so, and to enjoy the fruits of their labors throughout the year. Gloria served faithfully in all her church callings. She served mostly in Primary and Relief Society and enjoyed working with the children and sisters of the ward. Gloria was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1981. Though her body continued to fail, she never gave up on doing as much as she could. She read with her grandchildren and even the neighbor’s children, to help them get better at reading. She served as a visiting teaching supervisor, calling people and checking on them. Over the last several years, she got very serious about family history work. She managed to find so many names and kept sending these to her children and grandchildren so they could perform the temple ordinances for her ancestors. No doubt she will continue this work now she is on the other side. Gloria was a wonderful wife and loving mother. She loved all of her 25 grandchildren and 1 great-grandson. She was a devoted sister and daughter, and a faithful friend and neighbor. Though we will all miss her, we are all better for having such a great lady to be a part of all our lives. Funeral services will be held Tuesday, April 17th at 11:00 am at the LDS Chapel at 11162 North Alpine Highway, Highland, Utah, where a Visitation will be held prior to services from 9:00 to 10:30 am.  Interment will be at the Highland Cemetery, 6200 West 11000 North, Highland, Utah. Funeral Directors: Utah Valley Mortuary