Gloria Jean (Burton) Bluefer

Gloria Jean Burton Bluefer was born on February 6, 1948 to the late Rosie Lee Burton and Leonard (Linnie) Armstrong outside of Brummitt, Arkansas. Rosie Burton would later marry Charlie Henry Franklin, Sr., who raised Gloria and her twin sister Bobbie as if they were his own. Their grandparents Irene and Cecil Burton also helped raise them. Gloria departed this life on September 10, 2021 in Boynton Beach, Florida.

Gloria learned to play the piano at an early age and continued to play for Allen Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Stuttgart, Arkansas for 20 years, as well as played for various churches in Pulaski County while living in Arkansas.

Gloria graduated from Holman High School, Class of 1966. While in high school she was not only a singer with the “JACKETTES”, but also a seamstress. She made prom dresses and bow ties for her classmates. She continued her education at Arkansas AM&N (now UAPB) in Pine Bluff, Arkansas graduating in 1970 with a Bachelor’s in Home Economics. In addition, she earned a Master’s degree from The University of Central Arkansas in Conway, Arkansas. Gloria also used her skills and talents to be a seamstress/tailor in the community.

After finishing school at AM&N, Gloria began her career in the Dewitt Public School System. She continued her career as an educator in Little Rock, Arkansas, Durham, North Carolina, Helena/West Helena, Arkansas and later retired from Atlantic High School in Boynton Beach, Florida.

Gloria was preceded in death by her parents, sisters Ethel Thompson and Bobbie Burton Holloway, and bother Clarence Wilson.

Gloria is survived by her children Jabari Hill, Gezar Bluefer, and Jamila Patterson; sisters Christene Long (Hosea) and Paulette Smith; brother Charlie Franklin (Scharlde); brother-in-law Eric Holloway; six nieces; seven nephews; twenty-three grandchildren; two great grandchildren; and many cousins, in-laws, and friends.

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