Paid Obituary

Gloria Frances Douberly Chavez Gilliam

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Gloria Frances Douberly Chavez Gilliam passed on peacefully in the care of the Intermountain Collier Hospice Center in Wheat Ridge, Colo., on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025, surrounded by her family. On the day before her passing, her children Mary, Amy, Robert, Brigid, and Ben threw her an early Valentine's party at her hospice suite. They delighted her with singing, dancing, and sharing family memories. Her last words before she slipped into a coma that evening were the words “I Love You” to her oldest son, Ben. 

Gloria was born in Savannah, Ga., on Dec. 22, 1939, to parents William and Samantha Douberly from a colonial family dating back sixteen generations. Her ancestors, Christopher Douberly and Zachariah were Revolutionary War soldiers who settled in Jamestown, Virginia, and Savannah, Georgia. The family emigrated from England, and the family estate, Old Lands, still exists in Monmouthshire, Wales, UK. It was sold by the Douberly family to the Bosanquet family over 200 years ago, and they continue to run it as a working estate to this day.    

Gloria attended Western Colorado University, graduating in 1991. She later earned several awards for teaching, working with the developmentally disabled, and working with unwed mothers. On Dec. 28, 1955, she married Benjamin (Ben) A. Chavez Jr. in Savannah. After his untimely death in 1972, as a young widow with eight children, she remarried William B. Gilliam in 1974. Gloria and Ben moved to Boulder, Colo., in 1956, where Ben was a graduate student and Assistant Professor. As their family grew, the couple moved next to Farmington, N.M., and then to the Pismo Beach area in California. Later, they moved to Colorado, where she lived ever since, except for two years in Texas, taking care of her mother-in-law Jewell Gilliam. 

Known for her incomparable grace, elegance, and legendary entertainment, Gloria will also be missed for her tender regard for those in need and lively sense of humor. She enjoyed many close friendships for a long duration and was kind and imaginative in her generosity. If Gloria had a slogan, it was “Love, Love, Love.” A devoted wife, Gloria accompanied her husband on extensive travels throughout the United States for work and philanthropic projects. She was devoted to her nine children, her 11 grandchildren, and her three great-grandchildren; Gloria enjoyed to the fullest her family life. Her love knew no bounds with her children, and she delighted them with her cooking, baking, sewing, and craft skills. She even taught her children how to make shrimp nets that they could use shrimping with their grandfather off the coast of Tybee Island near Savannah in the summers.  

She recalled how she knew little about cooking when she married because her mother had a maid and a cook in Savannah. Her mother-in-law, Bertha Chavez, matriarch of the family ranch in Antonito, Colo., taught her all she needed to know, and she delighted the family with her delicious green chili, baked bread, and sopapillas. She participated in many church bake sales and was featured in local newspapers for her cooking and entertaining. After her first husband, Ben, passed away, her son Ben III took on three jobs to help keep the family going and helped her develop a thriving wedding cake business. It was in setting up a wedding cake with her son at St. Therese Church in Manassa that she met her second husband, Bill, at the wedding reception, and they married on June 22, 1974. She and her husband, William Gilliam, were members of St. Aloysius Catholic Church in Rye, Colo. She volunteered and taught catechism there for almost two decades and impacted many young lives. 

Possessing a keen interest in the communities she lived in, she was honored as 1973 Citizen of the Year in La Jara, Colo. She served and volunteered for Penrose Hospital in Colorado Springs, Six Points Evaluation and Training in Gunnison, Family Programs in Pueblo County, the American Legion Auxiliary in La Jara and Head Start in Pismo Beach, Calif. Her love of babies and the developmentally disabled prompted her to knit hundreds of baby caps and knitting wear in her retirement, which she gave away freely. Her greatest joy, she always said, was her children, and she wished she could have had more. She was a foster Mom for three additional children after her last baby, Mary, left the nest. 

Among the many charities she supported, the organization that topped her list was the Six Points Evaluation and Training Center in Gunnison, Colo., serving people with intellectual disabilities. She devoted her life to working with some of the most vulnerable individuals in her community. Those included adults and children with intellectual disabilities, preschool students, and pregnant, unwed teenage mothers. The long list of organizations to which Gloria lent time and support include Six Points, St. Aloysius Catholic Church, Penrose Hospital, Catholic Daughters of America, La Leche League, and Head Start. Earlier in life, she worked with her husband Ben in the agricultural fields of California, convincing farm workers to bring their babies and toddlers to Head Start instead of letting them lie on a gunny sack or in the mud. She maintained a long-time friendship with Helen Chavez, the wife of activist Cesar Chavez. 

Gloria was preceded in death by her parents, William J. and Samantha Douberly; her brothers, William and Ronald; her first husband, Benjamin Chavez; and her second husband, William Boyd Gilliam. She was also preceded in death by her former father and mother-in-law Benjamin Chavez Sr. and Bertha Chavez of Antonito, Colorado, and Dr. C. Hughes Gilliam and Jewell Gilliam of Texas, as well as her infant daughter Josephine. 

Her immediate family survives her, including her eight living children: Ben (Alex) Chavez Gilliam of San Francisco, Calif.; Brigid (Randy) Heckman of Rexville, N.Y.; Bill (Valerie) of Lakeland, Fla.; Amy (Tim) Heckman of Rexville, N.Y., Regina (James) Solano of Wheat Ridge, Colo., Carol (Jamie) Samford of Crossroads, Texas, Robert (Netta) Gilliam of Denver and Mary(Matt) Burt of Gunnison, Colo. 

Eleven grandchildren survive her including (children of Brigid and Randy Heckman) Ryan (Kate) Heckman, April (Dane) Towner, and Autumn (Ward) Beveridge; (children of Amy and Tim Heckman) ; Angela Paxton, Samantha (Sean) Cromwell, Sean Heckman,  Savannah Heckman (children of Carol Samford) Cassie Wygant and Beau Wygant; and (child of Robert and Netta Gilliam) David Gilliam, and (child of Mary and Matt Burt) Alden Burt. Four great-grandchildren also survive Gloria; and by her beloved little dog, Spot. Numerous nieces and nephews also survive her. She is also survived by her brothers Gerald and Ken of Georgia, brother-in-law Dr. David M. Gilliam, and beloved Aunt Stella, who remembers her for her fun-loving and kind nature. It was said by many that she would light up any room she entered. She was a joy to be around and never lost her sense of humor, even to the very end. 

The Archdiocese of Denver/Catholic Funeral Services is in charge of the arrangements. Cremation was chosen, and a Celebration of Life will be announced soon. A private gathering will follow. 

In lieu of flowers, donations be made in Gloria’s memory to Six Points Evaluation and Training Nonprofit and Thrift Store, P.O. Box 1002, a non-profit serving people with disabilities based in Gunnison, Colo.