On September 10th, 2024, our heavenly father welcomed Gloria Irene Van Dyke into the Kingdom of Heaven at 89 years of age, from Lakewood, Colorado. She devoted her life to Jesus and her faith never wavered. Gloria was born on July 16th, 1935 to Harry and Gladys Thompson in Charlson, North Dakota.
Gloria is preceded in death by her parents, brother and sister Harley Thompson and Phyllis Yesel, sons Jesse, Michael and Timothy Van Dyke.
She is survived by her husband, Merline Van Dyke, youngest son, Gregory Van Dyke, her brother Phillip Thompson and her grandchildren, Shayanna, Justin, Skyler, Zach, Aubrey, Taybor, Austin, Baylee and Megan along with four great grandchildren, Jaxon, Colt, Claire and Zoey. She is also survived by countless cousins and relatives.
Gloria grew up in the small farming community of the former town of Charleson, North Dakota. It was here that she met Merline Van Dyke, who resided close by in the small town of Keene, North Dakota. They married on October 29th,1953, and shortly after began creating a new, beautiful family. Gloria and Merline moved various places early on in their marriage while looking for the best place to establish their own roots. In 1954, in Corpus Christi, TX, where Merline was stationed in the Navy, their first son, Jesse Van Dyke, was born. From Corpus Christi, they moved to Fargo, North Dakota where Michael was born in 1957. On the next of their many adventures, they moved to Oregon for Merline’s job designing roads through the mountains. It was here that Timothy was born in 1963, followed by Gregory in 1965. They then decided to head back home to North Dakota until making their final move in 1968 to Colorado. They purchased a home in Lakewood, CO in 1969 and planted their roots for their newly growing family. It was here that the Van Dyke family would flourish underneath two beautiful parents.
Gloria was a wonderful mother and spent her days raising four active children. Later, as her children aged, Gloria became a grandmother and took full advantage of spoiling all of her grandchildren. Gloria was always very involved with her family and was the glue that kept everyone together. Her home was the place where all of the family gathered and spent countless hours playing and celebrating each holiday. She always kept a beautiful garden and lawn, and was known to take care of more than a few snakes when the grandkids found them. She cherished being surrounded by her family, and on special occasions, she would make sure that there was handmade lefsa on the table. Not only did she have an abundance of homemade cookies in the cookie jar, but also home-grown raspberries and strawberries for everyone to snack on. In October of 2023 Gloria and Merline celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary, leaving a foundation of love and grace for all that knew her.
Viewing services in Colorado will be held at Belmar Church on September 23rd, 2024, at 10am MST with the service to follow beginning at 11am MST.