Gloria Levitt, Mother Daughter, Sister, Friend, Athlete, Colleague.
Gloria Levitt (Hejna), 42, passed away on
March 24, 2006 in Palo Alto, CA tragically leaving behind her two
cherished sons – Joey (6) and Joshua (4) whom she adored more than life
itself. Her only wish was to live a simple life in peace with her two
sons.
Gloria looked for hope, possibility and love. Our eyes did not see
clear enough, our arms were not opened wide enough, our lives were
filled with the busyness of life and she slipped from our midst.
Her other surviving family members include her parents, Thelma and
Larry Levitt, her two sisters, Sandy Levitt (and Brian Higgins) and
Rhonda Bannard, along with her nieces and nephew – Aubrey, Morgan and
Heath, as well as dozens of cousins, aunts and uncles in the U.S. and
Canada.
Gloria was born March 7, 1964 in Montreal, Canada. Her family moved to
Arizona a short time later to help her overcome her asthma. She
attended Richard E. Miller and Royal Palm grade schools. She was the
ultimate Sunnyslope Viking, excelling scholastically and athletically
garnering her a record 16 Varsity Letters in four years and graduating
7th in her class. As a gymnast and a Varsity cheerleader, she was known
for starting off football and basketball games by spelling out
V-I-K-I-N-G-S with back-handsprings. She was a member of the Varsity
diving, gymnastics and track teams and on the student council every
year of high school. She participated on the Varsity Cross Country
team, Vi-Teens, Drama and the French Club. She was in the National
Honor Society, served as student body treasurer, was voted Student of
the Month, Female Athlete of the Year. As a child, she attended Beth El
Congregation and as an adult was bat mitzvahed in California. Gloria
attended the University of Arizona with both of her sisters and
graduated with a degree in Accounting in 1986. She was on the Wildcat
gymnastics team for two years.
She moved to San Jose, CA after graduation to pursue her career as a
CPA, working first with the Arthur Andersen Company, then additional
corporations, the last being with the Oracle Corporation for a number
of years and working in various capacities supporting their accounting
software products.
She embraced the California lifestyle taking advantage of the outdoors,
participated in triathlons, long bike rides including being a
motivating force behind a group of bike riders known as the “slugs.”
Gloria traveled the world, including trips to Costa Rica, climbing to
the summit of Mt. Everest, making it to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro,
bungee jumping off a bridge in New Zealand, many areas in Europe,
Israel, India, the Phillipines and elsewhere.
She was married in 1995 (divorced in 2004) and had two sons whom she
dedicated her life to. She would have loved to have just been a mom.
Gloria's hope is that a community of friends now watch over her two
precious and fragile boys.
Gloria will be missed by so many. Her parents mourn for a daughter they
should not have had to lose; her sisters, Sandy and Rhonda, ache from
her absence. She was extraordinary, radiated possibility and played
with abandon. She loved double stuff Oreos, to dance, and filling her
life with friends and family. And who could forget the way she twirled
that strand of hair on the back of her head. Gloria had an incredible
zest for life. She will be missed by the hundreds of people whose
lives she touched.