Biography: Gloria Jean Smith Blakney of Little Rock, Arkansas, lived life joyously. Gloria passed away on September 28th, 2022. Gloria, known as “Gigi, Aunt Glo, Glo-glo, and Glo” to her family and friends was born on September 7th, 1945 in Eldorado, Arkansas, to Lorene Billings Smith and John Woodrow Smith. Gloria recounted her childhood on the family farm in Stamps, Arkansas, with her younger brother, Johnny, as “idyllic.” It is there where her lifetime devotion to family and friends began.
Gloria graduated from Ouachita Baptist University (OBU) in 1967. It is at OBU where she met Gary Marshall Blakney of Dequeen, AR. The two married in 1966 and shared a lifetime of adventures with their children and grandchildren.
Gloria began her career as an English teacher in 1967 at Cutter Morning Star in Hot Springs. She went on to teach at Fair Park High School (Shreveport, Louisiana); Harrison High School in northwest Arkansas; and McClellan High School in Little Rock, where she ultimately became a high school guidance counselor before her retirement in 2008. Gloria retired early to enjoy being the grandmother of three grandchildren, Isabelle Fiona (Izzy), William Shannon Brendon (Liam), and Elijah John David (Elijah). While her grandchildren were in school, Gloria played tennis (5 days a week) and contributed where there was any need with her family and friends. She was effervescent in her joy and respectful in her endless contributions to those in need.
Gloria was a travel and history enthusiast. Just two months before her death, Gloria and her husband Gary took their daughter, Jane Anne, their son-in-law, Brendon, and their adored (and they knew it) grandchildren to the United Kingdom. To no one’s surprise, Gigi, easily climbed the laborious stairs to the top of St. Paul’s Cathedral, where she marveled at the London panorama with Izzy, Liam, and Elijah. While her career and interests were impressive, there were simply not enough minutes in the day for her to be with the ones she loved. Upon her passing, friends and family spoke of her “boundless energy, focus on others, incandescent joy and force of nature.” While in the modern world telephone calls can be screened and conversations, good or bad, delayed, Gloria always answered the phone. She worried when her friends and loved ones worried, she celebrated when they celebrated. She did not run from problems. In her deepest grief, after the death of her son, Brett, she let others know that life was too beautiful not to carry on in the grandest and most joyous of ways. Words do no justice to describe her delight in the world and others.
Gloria was preceded in death by her mother and father, Lorene and Woodrow Smith, and her son, Brett Gary Blakney. She is survived by her husband Gary Blakney, her daughter Jane Anne Blakney-Bailey (Brendon), her grandchildren, Izzy, Liam, and Elijah, her brother, Johnny (Carol), her niece, Laura (Alan) and nephew John D. (Kerry), and countless friends and family members.
Gloria’s life will be celebrated at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church on Wednesday, October 5, 2022 at 10:00 am. Gloria was a devoted member of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Little Rock and her family invites those who wish to donate in her name to do so toward the St. Mark’s Discretionary Fund, 1000 N. Mississippi Street, Little Rock, AR 72207. These funds are donated directly to those in crisis in our state and elsewhere. Arrangements are under the direction of RuebelFuneralHome.com