It’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. This

saying well captures the spirit of Gloria Joiner. 

 

When asking friends and family about Gloria these were things remembered. 

Norma Jean, her sister, remembers Gloria not only as a loving sister but as a tremendous athlete. Others have expressed that she was a positive and encouraging person as well as kind and friendly. Gloria was both a sprinter and relay runner. She ran the 50 and 75 yard dash as well as the 100 and 200 yard relays. She was said to be the strength of the team by her teammates. She had a very competitive spirit which helped her later in her life when she battled cancer and lost her life to it on May 18, 1993.

 

Gloria has two daughters, Peyton Givens Walker and Page Givens McKelvy and two grandchildren. Her daughters are both married and settled now in Cleveland, Mississippi and Conway, Arkansas respectively. Gloria enjoyed spending time with her girls especially shopping, laying by the pool, and cooking.   She also was a believer in the girls doing housework and both girls would always ask, “Why do we have to do all the housework?” Gloria also loved MSU football games and tailgating with her family. 

 

Her daughters tell us that Gloria’s battle began with breast cancer and she fought back with chemo. She was in remission for a year before her diagnosis of lung cancer. Gloria used her sickness as an example of how to move forward with your life while fighting for it. Her fight has encouraged many others and one of her friends now runs a race that she dedicates to Gloria each year.

 

Another event her girls shared was while riding in the car with their mother one winter during her chemo treatments. The police pulled her over for speeding and asked her to come with him while he verified her information. The heater was on full force in the police car and after some time Gloria could not take it any longer so she pulled off her wig. Yes, she still got the ticket. 

 

But this story reminds her girls that even in the midst of cancer she was still the Gloria that we all knew and loved. Submitted by Janice Ellis Ford in collaboration with Gloria’s daughters Page and Peyton.   

 

"She was a stellar athlete in track. . . . quiet, hardworking, and dependable."  Ruthie specifically remembers her "beating me out of a spot on the relay team.  Afterwards, she almost apologized for being faster than me!  So, I guess you could say that I never "ran" around her!"  She was very unassuming, kind and supportive of all the members of the track team.  She was quiet and always did what the coaches asked of her. Submitted by Candy Carroll Coker and Ruthie Morton Coenen.