Gloria Jeanne Bird Anderson was born in 1944 to Ralph and Erma Bird. On Friday, August 11, 2023, she passed away peacefully in the presence of her husband and children.
Gloria was born and raised in Mar Vista, California. After graduating from Venice High School and attending Brigham Young University, she returned to Southern California, where she met and fell in love with Joey, the intelligent, thoughtful, hardworking guy with the cool Volvo. Spending their lives together became natural, and they were married and started their family in 1970.
Although she put up with the teasing from her kids about her accent, Gloria spoke fluent German, as she and Joey moved their family to southern Germany in 1981. She raised her kids there for close to seven years, teaching them by example to love life, to love their family, to love others, to love music and to love chocolate cheesecake. Gloria continued to teach her children to embrace challenges and change as their family moved back to California, then to Switzerland and finally to the Salt Lake Valley in 1994.
Throughout her life, she frequently demonstrated a knack for identifying classic cars by their tailfins. This skill likely originated from her early employment at the Beverly Hills Cadillac dealership. Additionally, she started her work life at the FBI transcribing code words and at a Dental Office. She took a decades-long hiatus to devote her time to her family. She finished off her professional career as an accomplished office administrator for Moss Industrial, Clarke American and Franklin Covey. After retirement, Gloria returned to one of her true talents, caring for others, as she watched, tended, spent time with, and attempted to keep up with her grandchildren.
Gloria is survived by her husband Joey, her brother Gilbert (Shannon) Bird and sister Maureen Moore, her five children: Tedy (Katarina) Anderson, Arden (Heather) Anderson, Krystle (Greg) Hilbig, Olivia (Judd) Christensen and Erika (Michael) Bellon, her twelve grandchildren, three grand-dogs, and numerous extended family members, all of whom she loved and who will miss her dearly.
Services will be held on Saturday, August 19, 2023, with a viewing at 9:00am and the funeral service to begin at 11:00am located at The Church of Jesus Christ of latter-Day Saints, 7784 South Highland Drive, Cottonwood Heights UT.
Funeral Services will be streamed on this obituary page on the day of the services.
Interment will be at Mountain View Memorial Cemetery located at 3115 East 7800 South, Cottonwood Heights, UT 84121 following the service.Service Information
Viewing August 19, 2023 at 9:00am
The Church of Jesus Christ of latter-Day Saints 7784 South Highland Drive, Cottonwood Heights, Utah 84121
Funeral Service
August 19, 2023 at 11:00am
The Church of Jesus Christ of latter-Day Saints 7784 South Highland Drive, Cottonwood Heights, Utah 84121