Gloria Bode Opperman died peacefully at her home in the Gerald Community near Leroy, Texas, on

Wednesday morning, March 6, 2024, at the age of 72 years.

Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Wednesday, March 20, at St. Mary's of the Assumption Catholic Church. After the mass, the urns of Gloria and Jerry will be placed together in the St. Martin's Cemetery in Tours, Texas. (See the maps below.)

Gloria Ann Marie Bode was born in Waco, Texas, on September 7, 1951; the only daughter of John

Charlie Bode and Marie Margaret (Gauer) Bode. Gloria was baptized November 25, 1951, in the St.

Paul’s Evangelical & Reformed Church in Gerald, Texas. Her baptismal sponsors were her uncle, Henry F. Bode of Dayton, Texas, and her aunt, Hilda Bode Witt of Houston, Texas. Gloria was confirmed at the West Brethren Church in West, Texas, on May 16, 1966.

Gloria grew up on the family farm in the Gerald Community and she was educated in the West

Independent School District. Gloria graduated from West High School in 1970. While still a student in West High School, Gloria went to work for The Leroy Bank in Leroy, Texas, where she was employed until the bank closed on August 7, 1987. Gloria then was employed in the loan department at American Bank in Waco, and she later was employed at Edward Jones Investments in Waco until her retirement.

Gloria met and began dating Jerry Opperman, and it was during this time that she converted to the

Catholic faith. Gloria and Jerry were married June 15, 1991, in the St. Louis Catholic Church in Waco. They made their home at Gloria’s home in the Gerald Community. Gloria and Jerry were married nearly 27 years at the time of Jerry’s death in April of 2018. In the later years of their lives, Jerry and Gloria were members of St. Philip Catholic Church in China Spring, Texas.

In addition to her parents and husband, Gloria was preceded in death by three brothers: Eugene Bode, Charles Bode and Weldon Joe Bode, and their beloved dog, Sugar.

She is survived by several cousins, and close friend Timothy Whitten, of Sugar Land, who Gloria "thought of as a son."