Gloria A. Chryst

Gloria A. Chryst, 94, of Lancaster, passed away peacefully surrounded by her loved ones on Saturday, December 23, 2017, at the home of her daughter, Dana Chryst. Gloria was born in Detroit, Michigan on January 27, 1923 to her parents, Anthony Stojan and Helen Bruske Stojan. She began working for the Michigan Bell Telephone Company in Detroit as a service representative and was quickly promoted to a supervisor position in the early 1950s, an extraordinary accomplishment for a woman of that day. Gloria married Donald C. Dilley while he was in law school in Detroit. They later moved to Grand Rapids, MI where Christine was born and Don joined the family law practice. In 1958 Gloria and Christine moved to Lancaster after Gloria married J. Freeland Chryst (who later founded The Jay Group). In Lancaster, Gloria participated in the Landisville Women’s Club and the Garden Club. Her volunteer work included being a Gray Lady at Lancaster General Hospital and helping with Toys for Tots. She worked for Audits and Surveys, work that included completing political opinion surveys and product surveys for various companies. She was one of the leaders of a Lancaster County government initiative to inform retirees of potential benefits from Supplemental Security Income. She spent many years at the Host Town pool in Lancaster and made many friends there. She also had the good fortune to be a snowbird for many years, spending her winters in Boynton Beach, FL where she also had a collection of dear friends. Gloria was known for her unfailing, buoyant sense of fun, humor, and playfulness. She loved to laugh and to make others laugh with her observations of everyday life, or funny things she had seen or read. She was creative and artistic. Famous for her kids birthday parties, Gloria loved beauty, color, and design. She designed gardens, had a flair for interior decorating, and was known for her sense of fashion, style, and glamour. Gloria loved poetry and delighted friends and family with her ability to recite poems from memory. She could give a poem just the right theatrical embellishment to make it humorous or touching. Some of her favorite poets were Ogden Nash, Edna St. Vincent Millay A.E. Housman, Robert W. Service, and Robert Frost. Gloria also had a great love of animals and always had a Siamese cat or dog by her side throughout her life. Zebras were her favorite animal because the baby zebra can recognize the mother by her unique stripe pattern. Gloria fed a live baby zebra at her 90th birthday party in her daughter’s living room. Gloria loved her family and often said that she wanted everyone to know their accomplishments. Her two daughters and her five grandchildren are college graduates and work in business, education, medicine, psychology, and pastoral ministry. They carry on her legacy of perseverance, good humor, care for others, generosity, and devotion to family. They will miss her greatly. She was preceded in death by her parents, Anthony Stojan and Helen Bruske Stojan, and her brother, David Stojan. She leaves behind two daughters, Dr. Christine Currie of Virginia Beach, VA and Moscow, Russia, and Dana Chryst of Lancaster, and their families; five grandchildren, including Madeleine Anne Currie, Grace Helen Hill, Dr. David Currie, Daniel Currie, and Blake Chryst Dudek; two great-grandchildren, Penelope and Hudson Currie; and many friends. Gloria and her daughters want to express their thanks and appreciation to her loving caregivers and companions, Amy, Norene, Renee, Sheri, Dana (aka Nora)and Maria. Gloria, otherwise known as Glo-worm or Grandma-Glo wanted all of her close friends and family members to know that “I won”! They will know what she meant! Relatives and friends are invited to attend Gloria’s Celebration of Life Service on Tuesday, January 2, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. at The Groffs Family Funeral & Cremations Services, Inc., 528 W. Orange Street (corner of W. Orange & Pine Sts.), Lancaster, PA 17603 with Reverend Mark E. Currie officiating. There will be a viewing at 10:00 a.m. where the family will receive friends. Interment will be in the Willow Street Mennonite Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions in Gloria’s name may be made to LEADS of Lancaster, P.O. Box 1721, Lancaster, PA 17608-1721 to continue their good works in making Lancaster more beautiful.