The birth of Gloria Elayne Bluethman Fair, who is now 100 years old and lives in Perry, Oklahoma, took place on August 24, 1921 in Needville, Texas. She is the daughter of Adolph William and Essie Lynn (Isabell) Henrichsen. The Primrose Assisted Living Centre in Stillwater, Oklahoma was the location where she resided until her death on January 18, 2022.
With her brother, Wilbert (Chic), and her sister, Shirley Jean, Gloria spent her childhood in the Texas communities of Needville and Rosenberg. In 1938, she graduated from Rosenburg High School as the valedictorian, and shortly after her graduation, she was awarded a scholarship to attend Draughan’s Business College, which is located in Houston, Texas. Prior to her marriage to John (Spitz) Alvin Bluethman on June 8, 1941, she was employed in the accounting department of Cole Theatres in Rosenburg.
They eventually relocated to Waco, Texas, where they remained until Spitz enlisted in the Navy in November of 1942. Gloria remained in New Orleans during the war years, where she worked at the United States Naval Hospital until the war’s conclusion. After the war, she relocated to Waco, Texas. John David, the couple’s first child, was born in that location.
During the year 1947, Spitz was transferred to Oklahoma City from his position as an employee at Safeway Grocery Stores. D’Alva Lynn, the couple’s second child, was born in that location. The birth of their third child, Randy Ray, took place in Perry, following the relocation of the family to Alva, Lawton, and Perry.
Gloria was employed at the Charles Machine Works for a period of twenty-five years, during which time she held the position of office manager. In 1977, her husband passed away. Dr. Edwin Fair, who was originally from Ponca City, Oklahoma, was the person she eventually married in 1979. Their marriage lasted for seventeen years, and during that time they travelled extensively to more than fifty different places throughout the world.
This included going on safari in Kenya, travelling through Japan and China, and serving as Methodist Volunteers in Slovakia in the year 1991. Over the course of fifteen winters, Ed and Gloria lived in the Trophy Gardens RV Resort in the Rio Grande Valley, where they were known as “Winter Texans.” Ed passed away in the year 1996.
