Gloria Sally Brotz

Gloria Sally Brady was born on February 24, 1933 in Buffalo, New York, the daughter of Martha Brady (Strauss) and Thomas Joseph Brady, a 44-year employee of the Iroquois Gas Company. Gloria was the youngest of three siblings Vivian Smith and Joseph Brady, both who passed before her. And was married to Donald J. Brotz, who passed in 1998. A 1955 graduate of the Millard Fillmore Hospital School of Nursing in Buffalo, New York, she began her career on the children’s ward of the Roswell Park Memorial Hospital before moving back to Millard Fillmore Hospital as a staff nurse. She and her husband moved their family to Long Beach, California following her parents and brother and sister who had relocated there. After one year working at St. Mary’s Hospital in Long Beach, she practiced her nursing career at Long Beach Community Hospital (LBCH) where she worked from 1971 until the hospital closed in 1998. (It is now reopened as Community Hospital of Long Beach).  As head nurse of the LBCH Cancer Detection Center, the second half of her career was spent educating others on the importance of early cancer detection. Ironically, she succumbed to this same disease. Gloria, 84, passed away Monday, August 7, 2017 in Long Beach, CA. She was a loving mother to daughters Tracey (Ron) Kincaid and Paula (Robert) Pugh both of Los Alamitos, CA and son Donald (Melissa) Brotz of Lincolnshire, Illinois and grandchildren Lindsay Kincaid, Taylor Pugh, Ryan Pugh and Hayden Brotz, cousin Robert Smith of Buffalo, New York and nieces Karen Hynes of Glendale, Arizona and Terri Brady of Henderson, Nevada. Being Irish was a way of life. Her daily wearing of her Claddaugh ring embodied her Irish heritage and reminded her of her father, singing Irish songs as her grandmother accompanied him on the piano. She enjoyed travel with family and friends to places including Ireland, England, Portugal, Italy, Alaska, Panama Canal and Hawaii, among others. Her children and grandchildren will miss her strong matriarchal presence, along with her famous frosted anise Christmas cookies, deviled eggs and holiday fruit salad. A celebration of her life, heralded by Irish tunes, will be held at Our Lady of Refuge Church on Saturday, August 12, at 2 p.m. Donations to the Community Hospital Long Beach Foundation, Nurse’s Fund, in Gloria’s honor, are welcomed.Luyben Dilday Mortuary (562) 425-6401