Gloria Ann Kummins' Obituary
Gloria (Schneider) Kummins was born in Boston, Massachusetts on May 13, 1934 and was raised in Brookline, Massachusetts. She studied transcribing from the age of 15 at Brookline High School on one of Thomas Edison’s earliest recording machines. The next time she saw that machine was when she moved to Fort Myers, Florida in 1973 and visited the Edison Museum. In 1953 she Graduated from Chandler Secretarial School in Boston and thereafter worked as a medical transcriber for almost 60 years.Gloria married Robert Kummins in 1955 and they raised their children in Newton, Massachusetts. She served as Creative Arts Chairperson of their local Parent Teacher Organization and was instrumental in having art projects from the Massachusetts Museum of Art brought to the local schools.Gloria was active in the community. She and Bob cared for foster infants from the Home for Little Wanderers in Boston for many years. She enjoyed delivering Meals on Wheels in Fort Myers for eight years. She was editor of the monthly Lee County Chapter of Hadassah Bulletin for twenty years.Membership in the Gulf Shore Writer’s Association prepared her for presenting How-to-Write Seminars at Lee County Libraries relating to her experiences writing a book that chronicled her trips to Italy called A Picture From Savoia, which is on the shelves of all the library branches in Lee County.Gloria worked on the Temple Beth El newsletter and served as Corresponding Secretary of the TBE Sisterhood. Her hobbies included playing the autoharp and creating pressed flower pictures and cards. Membership in a play-reading and acting group, The Parlor Players, for 20 years turned Gloria and Bob into “hams.” Since the year 2000, she found “grandmotherly” joy spending time with her best friends, the Wilson triplets, Tess Elli and Hannah.Gloria is survived by her daughter Helaine of Haydenville, Massachusetts; son Jeffrey of Winter Park, Florida; brother Jerry Schneider (Linda) of Gig Harbor, Washington; niece Telzey Gourley (Mike); nephew David Schneider of California and niece Sara Sause of Australia. Sadly, she was predeceased by her devoted husband Robert who passed away in 2014.In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Cancer Society.Gloria will be laid to rest alongside her departed husband Bob at 12:00 Noon on Thursday, June 28, 2018 inside the Gan Shalom Section of Fort Myers Memorial Gardens Cemetery, 1589 Colonial Boulevard, Fort Myers, Florida 33907, (239) 936-0555. A Memorial Service for Gloria will be celebrated thereafter at 2:00 PM at the Temple Beth El, 16225 Winkler Road, Fort Myers, FL 33908. A reception will immediately follow this ceremony and will also take place at the temple.To share a story or photo, leave a tribute or to offer condolences to the family at this difficult time please visit Gloria’s memorial webpage at www.fortmyersmemorial.com and sign her guestbook.
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