There was no way of missing Gloria.

She made a point of standing out wherever she went in her bright orange bug with a bouquet of plastic flowers on the roof. And if you didn’t see her coming, she stood out no matter where she was with her colorful outfits, many of which she made herself, red-rimmed glasses framing her ever-present smile and capped by a blond wave.

There’s no way of forgetting Grandma Gloria (Gloria Walker), who died last week. She was 97. She took on the moniker “Grandma” when she became a member of the Foster Grandparents Program and a regular at Wickes School and then Holliman after Wickes closed and was later torn down to make room for a single-family home development. Gloria and Roy Costa, principal of Wickes School, who was always smartly dressed and wearing one of his Mickey Mouse ties, were a colorful pair who lit up school corridors no matter how gray the day.

Grandma Gloria was never pushy or boastful, although as we learned and then wrote about, she was a friend of baseball legend Ted Williams. Former Beacon Sports Editor William Geoghegan reported in August 2007 that Gloria and Ted hit it off immediately when they met at a Jimmy Fund dinner at Lindia’s Restaurant in Cranston more than 70 years ago now. Sometime later, Williams called to say he was in New England and asked if they could get together.

"I said to him, "I'm exhausted. I've been to Little League today. I've been to choir practice today. I worked. I've got to get this ironing done,'" Gloria told.

"He said, "What do you mean? Don't you have someone to do your ironing?'”

Gloria said, "You've got to be kidding."

Gloria had her priorities. She put people first.

She would stop by the Beacon on special days, dressed for the occasion whether it was Halloween, St. Patrick’s Day or close to Independence Day, just to say “hello.” There were Christmas cards with wishes written in her bold and free-flowing script. She wasn’t looking for recognition. She was celebrating life and being with people.

“Spitfire,” was how Warwick Schools Superintendent Lynn Dambruch described her.

“She was a gem,” says Linda Plante, former director of the Foster Grandparents Program. “She was such a free spirit.”  Under the program, aimed at providing a few extra dollars to seniors on a fixed income, Foster Grandparents were paid $3.25 an hour [now it’s $4] and assigned to an elementary school. Grandma Gloria would report to school three days a week, as Plante remembers, and sit in her rocker in a corner of the room. If kids needed help – maybe they were having a tough day or were in need of encouragement – Gloria was there. She often had items she had made such as paper cutouts and stickers that brightened the day.

Melissa Dussault, director of the program today, can’t forget Gloria.

“She brought out the best of everyone … she brought joy wherever she went,” said Dussault.

What I found so insightful was her portrayal of Williams in her Beacon interview. It was apparent she was never taken with rubbing shoulders with a celebrity and that she respected people for what they are.

When asked about being friends with somebody so well known and adored, Gloria told Geoghegan, "I just kind of took it for granted because I'm not really impressed with people's station in life. It was just a really nice friendship."

Undoubtedly, that's why the friendship blossomed, Geoghegan  concluded.

Williams clung to his privacy, even as he became the most well-known player of his generation. His relationship with fans and the media was rocky. The fact that he never tipped his cap – not even in his final game – became legendary. And though he was still beloved by fans in Boston and around the country, his reluctance to stand in the spotlight painted him as a cold, quiet loner.
That wasn't the Ted Williams Gloria knew, but she understood why he never tried to change that image. Being in the public eye simply wasn't his cup of tea.

"He said, ‘I never knew that accomplishing something would destroy something else,'" Gloria said. "He was unable to cope with being noticed all the time. He was always just a very private person."

Gloria understood and found the good in people. It’s no wonder so many people know who you’re talking about when you mention Grandma Gloria.

A celebration of Gloria’s life will be held Sunday, May 25 at 1 p.m. at St. Paul’s Church on Greenwich Avenue.