What a LEGACY…a lifetime of steadfast, unwavering FAITH in JESUS CHRIST and a lifetime of dedicated, purposeful SERVICE to others in HIS Name!!! Gloria Belle truly lived a life of love that PLEASED GOD immensely!! In spite of the sorrows and grief she experienced here on earth, she fully embraced the JOY of the LORD!!! She used these painful experiences to share with her family and countless others, how God was able to make sweet lemonade out of life's sour lemons. She shared that same joyfulness in Jesus Christ with everyone she met, leaving us all with a little sliver of her bountiful JOY and the lasting memory of that glorious Gloria smile!!!

How do we HONOR such an amazing woman?!?! How do we celebrate her life?!?! As her children, we have been immensely BLESSED to experience a love so freely given, so unconditional, so deep, so purposeful!!! And while the JOY of being her children is grand and glorious, the sorrow we have felt without her presence here physically has been overwhelming!!! We are GRATEFUL that Jesus took her HOME in His perfect timing and she is no longer suffering from dementia!!! She has a glorified body and is standing in the presence of her Savior!!! Even in death, she chose to bless others by donating her earthly body to the University of Mississippi Medical Center. With such a big family and extended family, spread out over multiple states, it became a daunting task if not impractical undertaking to get everyone together in one place to celebrate Mama's life. Time, grieving and a year of crazyyyy life passed by…without an obituary, without a eulogy and without a celebration. So here we are, on the 1st anniversary of our Mama's meeting Jesus…we are finally ready to celebrate her life in an unconventional way with ALL of YOU, her family and her friends, from the comfort of your own home.

To write an ordinary obituary would not even come close to describing Mama's extraordinary life. Yes, she was born Gloria Belle Deckelman on Sunday, February 26, 1933 in Pine Bluff, Arkansas and as momentous as that was, being the 7th of 9 children born to Arthur & Helen Deckelman…Mama would be the first one to tell you, that the most important day of her life, was the day she asked Jesus into her heart!!! Gloria Belle was named after her Aunt Minnie Belle, who had a huge impact on her life! We can thank Aunt Minnie (who was also Mama's home economics teacher) not only for the amazing sewing and baking skills she taught her, but also for the spiritual influence she was in her life. Mama loved to tell the story of how Aunt Minnie would drive up and roll by her house on Sunday morning, slowing down just enough for her to hop in and off to church they'd go. Mama often said, "I had a yearning for God since I was a child. I can't remember a time when I didn't love God. He has blessed me my whole life."

Mama loved her family…her brothers, Conlyn (& Mary), Arthur (& Gladys), Buddy (& Marion), Fred and Thomas (& Kaye) & her sisters, Maxyne (& Joe), Fay (& John) and Sissy (& Frank). In 1948 Mama's brother Fred, only 17, died in a tragic drowning accident. At just 15 years old, she experienced the heartbreak of losing her brother, yet this painful tragedy would later be used to help many others. Mama graduated from Fountain Hill High School in 1951 and attended the University of Arkansas at Monticello for a short time. At the age of 18, just before her 19th birthday, she left her family behind and got on a bus, by herself, headed to California! She traveled from Fountain Hill, AR to National City, CA, to marry Emmett Lacy, who was serving in the US Navy. Yes, she was adventurous and lived up to her nickname "gutsy Gloria." Emmett and Gloria were married on February 1, 1952 at the 1st Baptist Church of National City. Mama didn't know a soul, but quickly gained many friends as she began working as a secretary at the church. This was only the beginning of a lifelong ministry as she served at many churches. The Lacy family began with the birth of their oldest daughter, Cindy, born while Daddy was out to sea. He completed his time in the Navy, was honorably discharged and then Pam joined the family two years later. The next year, in 1957, Mama and Daddy suffered the heartbreak of Arthur Emmett's premature birth and death. Five years later, God blessed and completed the Lacy family by bringing them another son, Arthur. Soon the Lacy family made La Mesa, CA their home, and began attending Del Cerro Baptist Church. Mama came from a long line of teachers and although she was not a public school teacher, she served her church family by teaching Sunday School, Vacation Bible School and Bible Study groups.

Mama continued serving God in her family, her first ministry!!! She spent time volunteering and was a room mother in her children's classrooms, providing many happy children with fabulous homemade goodies for their class parties. In her home she was a consistent role model, constantly demonstrating to her children how to be a faithful follower of Jesus Christ!!! She was an ever present example of a Mama who spent time in His Word and prayed diligently over her family!!! She ran a tight ship!!! As her children, we have commented, "We had the fear of God AND the fear of Mama." Throughout the years, Mama hosted many a get together, birthday parties and even sleepovers, complete with homemade eclairs and other mouth watering treats. During the holidays the Lacy home was "Baking Central!!!" Every Christmas, the neighbors, the mailman, church friends and others, received a plate full of assorted goodies. Mama made sure that no one was left out and even delivered freshly baked pies to the Rescue Mission. When someone died, we brought the family a meal. When a new baby was born, we brought the family a meal. When someone was sick, we brought their family a meal. Oh and in her spare time, Mama pampered her family with lots of homemade lovin' from the oven. She canned, made homemade jams, cookies, cakes, pastries, pies and any other form of delectability you can think of, yup she probably made that too!!! She set the bar high for serving others!!!

The Lacy family summers were spent traveling back to Arkansas and Oklahoma to visit their families in the south. Mama had 16 nieces and nephews that she dearly loved…Patrick, Linda, Susan, Glenn, Ann, Steven, Andrea, Patricia, Sharon, Joy, Bill, Debbie, Mark, Dana, Melanie and Valerie. They also visited Cindy, who was living in Arkansas and in 1974, had married Debo Yates. Mama loved life, she loved her family and she loved her Jesus!!! In 1975, once again, Mama suffered a tragic loss. Her husband of 23 years, our Daddy, took his own life. As difficult and heartbreaking as this loss was, God used this pain to prepare Mama for another ministry. Her painful experiences with loss and grief, her time spent as a widow, single, would soon be used for a very special purpose to minister to the singles and broken hearted. By the next year, Mama was thrilled to become a Grandma!!! She went on to be blessed with 11 "grands" as she called them and Mama loved doting over her grands (and in the future, her grand-in-loves)… Rachel & Darrell, Jeremy & Renee, Daniel & Anna, Marcus & Shannon, Hannah & James, Andrea & Reggie, Lance & Brianna, Tyler & Alicia, Shannon & Preston, Mindy, and lastly, Jonah Emmett.

Pam & Danny were married in July 1977, having no idea that less than 3 weeks later, they would be attending another wedding. Finding love after loss, Gloria met Vern Thomas at a Christian Single's fellowship in San Diego 5 months earlier and they were married on July 21, 1977 at Del Cerro Baptist Church. Mama was thrilled to gain two bonus daughters Stacey and Sarai and would eventually gain 3 more "grands," Sasha, P.J. and Reese. She gained another daughter when Arthur & Debbie were married in 1990. Mama loved to garden and she shared that passion with her grands! One year she grew a 50 pound watermelon! The SD Union Tribune even came out to photograph and interview her for a Grandparents Day article. Years later she would go on to help her grands plant their own gardens at their homes. Seeing a need at their own church, God led Mama and Vern to begin a Singles Ministry together that would become an enormous blessing to many singles. The Thomas home was quite often a place where the singles "broke bread" (and/or cookies) together! Mama and Vern were also instrumental in forming Gateway Church and actively ministered to this new church family. Mama not only served God at home and at church, but also volunteered in her community at Grossmont Hospital. She also enjoyed taking her grands to the SD Zoo, the circus, on shopping trips, walks and hikes. She climbed Cowles Mountain and even learned how to swim so that she could swim with and even teach her grands how to swim. After her brother's drowning, she was hesitant to get in the water…but her grands were just the motivation she needed to go to the YWCA and take swim lessons. Together they cooked up and canned homemade jam, and also made, baked and decorated many cookies!!! Christmas was quite the production at G'pa and G'ma Thomas' home. There was always a full buffet of homemade deliciousness and individual name place cards, with designated seating around a lovingly meticulously decorated table, fit for a royal celebration.

Over the years, Mama also began to share and help others to heal by leading Grief Recovery Groups in her home and served on the board of her Homeowner's Association. She stayed physically active by walking, hiking and swimming. During this time Mama's "greats" began arriving! In 1995 our precious Josiah was born, followed by Savannah, Addison, Caleb, Isaiah, Lily, Charlee, Elijah. In the years to come she was delighted to gain even more "greats" Aidan, Bella, Max, Corban, Everett, Brennan, Micah, Trevor, Abigail, Katy, Adelynn, Tobiah, Ellie, Benjamin, Lincoln, Jeremiah, Sadie Belle and Teagan. The annual trips to visit family continued, as Mama and Vern traveled to Colorado where he was raised, and also attended yearly family reunions in Arkansas. Mama's journey of helping others through grief, would again be called upon, to comfort her own daughter and her grands. In 2001, Pam's husband Danny took his own life. Mama's ministry to her family continued even as she was dealing with her own husband Vern's illness. In 2005, after 27 ½ years of marriage, once again, Mama became a widow. Vern died after a lengthy struggle with pulmonary fibrosis. Steadfast as always, Mama continued to minister to others through the grief groups as she grieved her own loss.

Every year Mama would travel to attend her High School reunion and also the Gardner/Deckelman family reunion in Arkansas. In October of 2005, while visiting for these reunions, she joined family for a meal at the local Catfish Inn. It was there that God saw fit to reunite her with her first love, Pete Higginbotham. Mama and Pete attended different high schools, but met at a baseball game. She had dated Pete 54 years earlier when he was serving in the US Army…both had been married twice and widowed twice. We, her children, knew all about this 'Pete' guy! We'd read our Mama's 1950-51 diary!!! Mama & Pete were married July 21, 2006. Mama & Pete honeymooned in San Diego and celebrated their marriage with family and friends at Gateway Church. Mama packed up her belongings, sold her home in San Diego and moved to Hamburg, AR with the love of her life. Mama gained five more wonderful bonus children…Debra Gay, Karen, Sonia, Carlton and Leslie. She was also blessed with many more grands and greats that she truly loved!!! God had turned her life full circle and she was a 73 year old giddy teenager in love! As they attended Mama's high school reunion together the next year, the "entertainment" ended up being two young girls singing quite appropriately, the song Soldier Boy. "You were my first love and you'll be my last love!!!" They adored each other! In 2009, Mama and Pete again traveled to California to attend Pam & Lucky's wedding. Shortly after returning from that trip, Pete was diagnosed with cancer. Mama said she had asked God for at least 7 years together. Pete went through chemo, eventually suffering from dementia also, but these two lovebirds delighted in every moment of every day together. Mama and Pete shared just shy of 7 years of married bliss! Pete died on Sunday, June 16th, 2013.

Age and loss, having been widowed for the third time, took a toll on Mama's physical and mental health. Cindy and Debo made numerous trips from Mississippi to Arkansas to be by Mama's side and help her through this difficult time. In December of 2014, they moved Mama into her own little one bedroom home located right next to theirs! What a gift from GOD!!! She had her own place, but also had the company and comfort of family close by. Cindy and Debo lovingly cared for Mama and took care of her every need. Mama made several trips to spend time with her California family. In 2015 she spent 4 glorious months with Pam and Arthur, seeing all of her grands and greats. Before she came, she made a list of who else she'd like to see. She visited with family and friends, attended Gateway Church on Sundays and even attended their weekly Senior Bible Study. She made several trips to spend time with her California family, but that became increasingly difficult over time. Dementia robbed her of many memories, but it could NOT steal her JOY!!! Just 3 weeks before her death, Mama became a Great Great G'ma to her "grand" Savannah's son, Asher. FIVE generations!!!!! Mama loved her family! She loved God's Word! She loved serving people! She loved music!!! As time passed, she was limited to watching church on tv, but she continued to take notes as she always had! She didn't want to miss a thing God had to say to her!!! As her memory deteriorated, communication became difficult. Her last legible words penned on a Sunday morning were "Exalt Him!!!" And that is exactly what she did!!! Every! Single! Day! Of her earthly life!!!

In Mama's Bible, highlighted & underlined…"I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources He will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit. Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God." Ephesians 3:16-19 Next to this verse in her Bible, she wrote..."what a promise!" Between the pages, she tucked a written note, "I pray that God feels at home in my heart." At the top of the page, she wrote..."*Is He at home in my heart?" If Mama had one question to ask you, surely it would be...Is He at home in your heart?

Gloria in excelsis Deo!!! GLORY to GOD in the highest!!! Jesus took Mama HOME on December 14, 2019. She was most assuredly greeted by her Savior with a welcoming heavenly hug & a "Well done, good & faithful servant." Today we celebrate her 1st Heavenly Birthday...today Gloria is in the arms of her Savior, basking in the light of the GLORY of GOD!!! We miss her tremendously, yet we have the HOPE of heaven & eagerly anticipate being together for all eternity!!!

We would love to hear your stories or favorite memories...how you came to know or how you would describe our Mama. If you have any special photos, we would be so grateful if you would share them with us! We would also love for you to share the impact of Mama's ministry on you or how she touched your life. Thank you for taking the time read about our precious Mama's life!!! Thank you for taking the time to bless our hearts by sharing these special memories with us!!! We are forever GRATEFUL that God chose US to be her children…we truly had the most awesome Mama in all the heavens!!! Cindy, Pam & Arthur