Gloria J Kloos

Gloria June (Larvenz) Kloos, 84, of Moline, Illinois, passed away Friday, December 29, 2023, at the Clarissa C. Cook Hospice House after a courageous battle with cancer.

A visitation, memorial service and celebration of life for Gloria will be held on Saturday, January 13, 2024 at Christ Anglican Church, 1717 8^th Avenue, Moline, IL with the visitation occurring from 3-4 p.m. and the memorial service and celebration of life following immediately thereafter. A meal with Gloria’s favorite foods will be served at the celebration of life and the dress is casual. There will be opportunity for people to speak about Gloria, how they knew her, why she was held dear, and to share poignant or funny stories about her. These will be recorded on video for the family as a remembrance and the family encourages people to think of what anecdotes they might reveal that would be meaningful to assist in their grieving.

Gloria June Larvenz was born August 6, 1939 in Geneseo, IL, the oldest of four children born to I. June (Pickens) and Gilbert Larvenz. They lived on a farm in Geneseo which offered a variety of unique experiences including declaring the neighbor's calf a pet as a young girl. On the farm, she attended a 1-room schoolhouse through the beginning of the 7^th grade. During that year, the family moved to Moline, IL where she continued at John Deere Jr. High School and through Moline High School thereafter, graduating in 1957.

Gloria married John A. Kloos in Moline, IL on December 10, 1958, marking their 65th anniversary in December. They were blessed with son Michael (b. 1964) and daughter Rebecca (b. 1967).

She worked for the Moline Public Library for many years where she ran the printing press for the City of Moline. Prior to that role, she drove the library’s Bookmobile around town for several years in the late 1970’s. Gifted with a mechanical aptitude, she was able to disassemble and repair the printing equipment at work on many occasions without calling a repairman. She was the driving force behind her employer purchasing an Apple computer when computers were expensive and not widely available which she learned to use without the aid of training or other resources to improve the printed materials generated from the print shop. She had an innate sense for how things worked and was very logical, an attribute passed down to her children. Retiring from the City of Moline in 1998 allowed her more time to focus on activities she enjoyed. A voracious reader, it is fitting that she worked at the library. For as long as we can remember, she always had a stack of books she was currently reading. Gloria likely read thousands of books over her lifetime. Working at the library afforded her special dispensation for the occasionally late book fine.

She was an enormously creative person and greatly enjoyed working with ceramics, firing items in her own kiln. In the 1970’s and 1980’s she taught ceramics classes in her basement. She was an avid gardener, canning tomatoes from each summer’s harvest, and loved planting flowers of all types, creating a beautiful haven and bird sanctuary in her yard where she spent a large amount of time. She was also an adventurous person and liked riding motorcycles, both street bikes and dirt bikes. The family rode dirt bikes at the Tri-City Motorcycle Club in Coal Valley, IL for many years. A fond vacation memory was riding motorcycles in the mountains of Colorado. In her sixties she downsized from her 800cc motorcycle to a 250cc scooter, and recently in her eighties, downsized again to a more lithe Metropolitan scooter.

Her adventurous spirit was on display when she first started flight training to be a pilot on April 29, 1968. Before she started training, her husband John had received his pilot’s license in 1967 and she was not to be outdone. She was proud when she received her own pilot’s license on November 30, 1969, quite an accomplishment at the time. She and John bought a 2-place 1946 Ercoupe which she used for her flight training and flew thereafter. Many Sunday fly-in picnics were spent at Ropp Field near Hillsdale, IL. John or Gloria would fly there from the Moline Airport with Mike or Becky while the other drove there in a car for a picnic, and then the other parent would fly the other child home in the airplane on the return trip. Nearly every year the family would vacation at the annual EAA fly in convention at Oshkosh, WI which Gloria attended with her family as recently as 2022. They would camp for an entire week, immersed in aviation, creating many great memories.

By far, Gloria’s passion was quilting. As a beloved and active member of the Mississippi Valley Quilt Guild, Gloria served publishing its newsletter for several years and was the featured quilter in the Guild’s September 2022 Great River Quilt Show. Her beautiful quilts have won many awards. She expressed her love by bestowing upon family and friends, beautiful handmade quilts and other sewn gifts. Each one, precisely crafted, is a testimony to both her generosity as well as her skill in quilting. When creating her one-of-a-kind quilts, handbags, or other offerings for people, she would meticulously select beautiful fabrics according to the favorite colors of the intended recipients. Her quilts, generously given to those she loved, are heirloom keepsakes.

Gloria is survived by her husband John, son Michael N. (Kathryn), daughter Rebecca S. Bernard (Jon Shinbori), two grandsons, John and Matthew (Brianna), sisters Virginia Sones and Susie Goodley, and sisters-in-law Sarah (Harold) Engel and Gail Larvenz. She was preceded in death by her parents, I. June (Pickens) and Gilbert Larvenz, and a brother Denny (Gail) Larvenz.

The family wishes to thank Drs. Garneau and Constantinou and their wonderful staff, Trinity Hospice, and Genesis Clarissa C. Cook Hospice House for their excellent and compassionate care of Gloria. Memorials can be made to the Mississippi Valley Quilt Guild, Gilda’s Club Quad Cities, or the American Cancer Society.

Memories may be shared online by visiting esterdahl.com.