Gloria Ann Figueroa, 59, passed away June 10, 2015, at John Muir Hospital in Walnut Creek, Calif.

A service to celebrate her life will be at 3 p.m. Sunday, July 19, 2015, at the Karen Hornaday Park Pavilion. 

She was born March 20, 1956, in New York City. Gloria was a licensed massage therapist for many years of her life. She also had a love and talent for painting. Watercolor painting was one of her favorite forms of art. In more recent years, Gloria adventured to Homer to pursue her true calling, becoming a grandmother. For the past several years, Gloria lived back and forth between Homer and Moraga, Calif.

Gloria brought joy to her family and friends with her offbeat sense of humor and energy. She had a childlike nature that was welcomed by many families during her time in Homer. Here she joined her granddaughter, Lucca, on many excursions: to the Homer Public Library for story time, to Karen Hornaday Park for hours of playing hide and seek and to Bishops Beach to build sandcastles and collect rocks.

She was known in Homer for her love of all children. She was the grandmother blowing bubbles and digging in the sand with all of the kids at the park. Though her time in Homer was short-lived, she loved to call it her true “home.” 

She is survived by her partner Eric Frahm, of Moraga, Calif.; father Anthony Figueroa, of Casselberry, Fla.; siblings Judy of Fredericksburg, Va., Billy of Petaluma, Calif., and Domonic of Sanford, Fla.; children Calvin Smith of Tucson, Ariz., Amanda Smith of Homer, Rose Figueroa of Homer, Crista Azeredo of San Francisco, Calif., and Ivan Weiss of Berkeley, Calif.; and her grandchildren Lucca of Homer and Ruby of Berkeley, Calif.

“We love you, Gloria. You will forever be in our hearts,” wrote her family. 

For more details about Sunday’s service, contact Amanda Smith at 907-756-1522 or email gf.in.loving.memory@gmail.com.

Friends are asked to visit Gloria’s online guestbook at Legacy.com.