Gloria Parenteau Martone

Gloria Parenteau Martone (January 15th, 1924 -- December 29th, 2016) -- no one had a lap like hers. She could fit two large adults comfortably on her glorious lap. It was so nice to sit next to her, or on her, and to laugh and laugh with her. She loved BINGO, Rhode Island, good food, handsome men, and her family. Not necessarily in that order. When it came to romance, Gloria was an optimist. Even when things took a hard turn, she never stopped believing in love. After losing her second husband Tony to an illness, Gloria found a kindred spirit in the produce aisle, when her cart, probably not by accident, bumped into Joe Oliviera's cart. They were longtime companions, roasting turkeys together, and caring for each other through the second sweep of their lives. When Joe passed away, many men stepped forward, eager to take his place, but Gloria -- though she never stopped looking -- never found the Kansas boyfriend of her dreams. She also never stopped breaking hearts: from the sailors at the Newport naval base when she was young, to the nearly comatose men at the convalescent home, she was a sweetheart nobody could catch.

Some people are gourmands. Some are gourmets. Gloria was so much more than that. Her love of food was religious. Cracker Barrel. Diners. Joe's meatballs. Susie's pies. Spiral ham. Beer and tomato juice. When she got cancer in her 60s, it could have been tragic, because the chemo was ruining her appetite. So she stopped the chemo, resumed eating, and -- they say -- she just ate the cancer away. Probably each of us has called her up to see how she was doing, and what she was doing was eating, or about to eat.

But really, if you called or visited her, she got right down to the big stuff right away. She wasn't a small talker. She wanted to know if you were happy, how your love life was. She talked openly about heartache and mortality. She was so easy to talk to, and to love. And she was incredibly loved -- by her parents, Laure' and Mathias; by her brother Norbert; by her sister and brother-in-law, Connie and Paul; by her children, Janice (Dan), Dennis (Qian), Brian (Teya), and Susie (Bob); by her 18 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren; by her nieces and nephews.

Gloria was always, always on your side. No matter what you did or said, she would love you. She was so proud of each of her kids, and it was easy to see how lucky she felt to be part of their lives.

Speaking of luck -- she didn't have a ton of luck at BINGO, or at casinos, or with lottery tickets. But wow, did she love them. Especially BINGO. She would play it anytime, anywhere. Dear God, she would say, I'd play at midnight.

Some might have said, looking at the sorrows and hardships she suffered in her life, that she wasn't lucky. But she didn't ever really say that. She just laughed. Maybe the best thing about her was her laugh -- how long and deep and real it was, how it changed into crying so imperceptibly, the way rain changes to snow. And her ability to laugh at herself was one of her greatest gifts to us. Even when diabetes took her toes away, she was able to laugh. When she got home from the hospital and Brian said to her, "Thanks a lot mom. You ruined the Christmas present I got for you" and she said, "Oh no, what was it?" and he said "Toenaile clippers" -- she couldn't stop laughing. Every time she told that story, she laughed more. Some theologians say that laughter is the closest thing to the grace of God. If that's true, Gloria has magnificent grace, and we, having been fortunate enough to laugh and cry with her, will keep it with us even in her absence.

The family received friends Tuesday, Jan. 3, at the Cheney Witt Chapel. In Lieu of flowers the family requests a mass in Gloria's honor, or would appreciate any donations to her favorite charity, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Donations may be left in care of the Cheney Witt Chapel, P.O. Box 347, 201 S. Main, Fort Scott, KS 66701. Words of remembrance may be submitted to the online guestbook at cheneywitt.com.