Gloria May (Owens) Trafton finished her journey here on Friday September 16, 2022 at the age of 88

Gloria was born May 5, 1934 in the town of St Francis, Kansas to Lemuel and Velma (Allen) Owens. She was their third child. Her siblings included Wayne (Barbara), Shirley Fay (Glen Knight), and Corrine Kay (Ray Crosby). They moved to Washington State in 1937 when she was three years old. They first resided in Enumclaw where her father worked a farm, then to Orcas Island where he again supported the family by farming. Finally Anacortes became the place to call home and they raised their children here while he supported them by working at the pulp mill.

In Anacortes High School Gloria was active as a song leader and worked on the student yearbook. During this time as a teen she worked at the local theater as an usher, vender and finally the coveted cashier out front!

After graduation she moved to Seattle and worked as a secretary for a company there. Not completely satisfied with that line of work she returned to Anacortes and soon married James M Rolph and mothered 6 children. She provided a rich environment for hiking, enjoying local beaches, and fishing. She may hold the record for walks, runs, and chases with her kids from Rosario Beach to Bowman's Bay!! She was a devoted and caring Mother for her family even to the third generation, stepping up in a big way, in her older age, to help those in need when problems arose. She was a great help to us all. For all this, her extended family is most grateful.

She thrived being busy. In church she played piano, sang in the choir, and did special music with various artists. She also loved doing floral arrangements to the extent where she even had her own silk flower business. God alone knows every second that she devoted to His service. In construction she oversaw the remodeling project for her home in Snohomish Washington, not afraid to call them out when they tried altering her plans. In business she worked at various establishments. The City of Monroe, then on to a company in Seattle that made writing boards for schools and businesses. She also ran other businesses of her own. The last job she held was a teacher's assistant with elementary children, a job her Mother had long ago in a one room school house in St Francis, Kansas.

She was preceded in death by her parents: Lemuel and Velma Owens; siblings: Wayne (Barbara) Owens, Corrine Kay Crosby, and Shirley Fay (Glen Knight); her daughter Susan Kay (Pat McPherson); grandsons: Edward Vincent San Juan and Corey Allen Haynes, and many other dear family relatives. RIP

Gloria is survived by husband Charles Trafton of 22 years; sons: Steven (Linda) and David Rolph; daughters: Diane, Nancy San Juan, and Kathy (Jason Martin) Rolph; fifteen grandchildren, twenty five great grandchildren, and four great great grandchildren, brother-in-law Ray Crosby, and numerous nieces and nephews.

On a note she wrote to her kids, she signed out this way…. "it was a good life, hard work, but worthwhile".

To share memories of Gloria, please visit www.evanschapel.com/obituary/gloria-trafton