On April 30, 1948, in Mineola, Texas, God decided the world needed more joy, so He sent us Gloria Murphy Mays – "Glo" to all who loved her. On August 17, 2025, He decided her work was done and called her home.

Gloria was the daughter of Patty Ruth Newsome and Foster Murphy, and the beloved stepdaughter of General Burl Newsome.

A proud graduate of Addie E. McFarland High School, Class of '66, Gloria went on to work 34 years in Court Services for the City of Dallas. She retired in 2002 after three decades of service.

Her faith was the compass point of her life. She came to Christ as a girl at St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church, in Mineola, Texas and later grew her faith as a devoted member of Griggs Chapel Baptist Church for over half a century, where she was a member of the Gospel and Sanctuary Choirs for 40 years, served in the Mission and Sunday School Ministries, and was active in the Griggs Chapel Book Club.

Gloria loved her people. She had her Birthday Club Girls and her Grand Avenue Social Club crew who started as friends and became family. She wrapped every gift like it was going on display at Neiman Marcus, read every book in sight, and learned calligraphy just to make sure your name looked fancy when she wrote it.

Being "Granny" and "Aunt Granny" was her favorite job, and the one she never clocked out of.

She lived generously, gave freely, and every so often whispered about something "getting on her nerves" (but we all knew her nerves had more stretch than she let on).

Gloria was preceded in death by her father and stepfather.

She leaves behind to cherish her memory her mother, Patty Ruth (Madea); her devoted son, Christopher (Tiasha); her granddaughter, Dr. Kaitlyn Mays (Little Peach Cobbler); her sister, Nelvin (Punkin); nieces, Carmen (Tony) and Tamala (Avery); great-niece, Faith; great-nephew, Seth; and countless friends and honorary family members who were blessed by her big laugh and big heart.