Obituary of Gloria J. Lombardo

Gloria J. Lombardo September 13, 1930 – August 5, 2011 Gloria was not a world voyager. She saw no reason to leave the lake. Actually, she couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to leave Deer Trail Point! Maybe she was right. But it wasn’t the cul-de-sac jutting into the wind swept waters of Lake Shawnee that was so special; it was the fact that Gloria lived there that made so many rainbows pop-up across the cove behind her home. They seemed to spring from the gardens she was constantly tending. Gloria was a Master Gardener. And her hands-on care didn’t stop with flowers. If talking to saplings and feeding them special food proved to morph them into mighty oaks – you need only meet Gloria’s children; Deborah Achtau, Donna Chenard, and Frankie Lombardo to see what the same kind of loving care can do for a family. It led them to put down deep roots, develop strong values and stand tall for the principles in which they believed. Gloria married young when she met Frank A. Lombardo, the man of her dreams. Unfortunately, she also lost him when the Lombardo family was still young. Gloria knew she would stay married to Frank for the rest for her life and spent the next 23 years raising their children and watching the next generation of their dynasty come into the world and flourish in her garden. The first additions were the Lombardo children’s spouses; Husein Achtau, Jim Chenard and Tracy Lombardo. Gloria welcomed them as wonderful additions to her garden. They loved her wholeheartedly in return. All the while Gloria found time to rescue or adopt a variety of domestic and wild animals. A tradition carried on by her youngest daughter lovingly referred to as, “Donna’s Pups.” Six grandchildren followed; Anthony Forina II, Rebecca Forina, Corey Forina, Tristan Lombardo, Casey Lombardo and P.J. Serrani. They filled Gloria’s final years with laughter, Game-Boys and plenty of play-dates and sleepovers at Nana’s. She took the grandkids boating on Lake Shawnee as she and her husband Frank Sr. had taken their parents vacationing on Emerald Lakes decades before. She fed the gaggle of grandchildren the best homemade meals any grandmother ever cooked up. And the kids kept coming back – not for the food but for the love, the understanding, the wisdom and the comfort. After graduating from High School they still kept coming. After college they continued to stop by. Then with their girlfriends, later they brought their fiancées. Gloria’s garden kept blooming. But after 80 years of lovingly tending to her ever-growing family and devoted friends, Gloria finally left Lake Shawnee for a better place. She and her beloved husband Frank are together now, dancing on the clouds to their favorite melody, “Stardust,” never to be parted again. Visitation Sunday, August 7th, 2011, 1 - 5 PM at Tuttle Funeral Home, 272 State Route 10 West, Randolph (www.tuttlefh.com). Funeral Mass at Our Lady of the Lake Parish, Mt. Arlington, at 10:00 AM on Monday, August 8th, 2011. Interment will follow at Restland Memorial Park, East Hanover. Donations are requested in her memory to the Carol G. Simon Cancer Center, 100 Madison Avenue, Box 110, Morristown, NJ 07962 and/or the ASPCA, PO Box 96929, Washington, DC 20090.