By Staff
December 21, 2004
A memorial service for Gloria Joy Brown, 61, of Las Vegas, Nev., formerly of Hartselle, will be held Saturday, Jan. 8, 2005, at 2 p.m. at Calvary Assembly Church on Beltline Road in Decatur.
Ms. Brown went to be with her Lord and Savior on Dec. 21, 2004, following her third battle with cancer. She was born June 8, 1943, in Cullman County and was a resident of Alabama for 59 years before relocating to Las Vegas to care for an elderly couple. Joy was a fitting name for someone who conveyed that every emotion to all those who knew and loved her. She loved life and sought to instill the same enthusiasm in those she loved as well as those she had just met.
She worked most of her life as an administrative assistant before finding her niche, as far as jobs go, when she started working with day-care children and most recently, the elderly. She would often proclaim "the Lord has blessed each of us with certain talents and I have come to believe that He has bestowed upon me the gift of being a servant to others." She accepted her gift with great passion and thrived as a caregiver.
Her hobbies included, but were not limited to, gardening, crafts, riding her four-wheeler on the sand dunes of Dumont, Calif., and dressing up as a clown to visit nursing homes and hospitals to brighten someone's day. She was a member of the Calvary Assembly Church in Decatur. She was preceded in death by her mother, Kathryn Joy Sartin; and her sister, Martha Sartin Green.
She is survived by her sons, John Metcalf of Cullman, Tim Parker of Birmingham and Mack Parker of Las Vegas; five grandchildren; her father, David Sartin and stepmother, Virginia Sartin, both of Hartselle; sisters, Bonnie Parker of Decatur and Mary "Dee" Switzer of Las Vegas; brothers, David E. Sartin of Trussville, Randy Sartin of Decatur and Danny Sartin of Martinsville, Va.; one stepbrother, Gary Norwood of Hartselle; 13 nieces and nephews; eight great-nieces and nephews; and countless friends.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials may be made to the Calvary Assembly Church Building Fund.