Obituary of Gloria Jean Darling Wilds

Gloria Leona Darling Wilds Gloria passed peacefully on September 18, 2024 at the age of 93. She was born March 28, 1931 in Lakeport to Jesse and Edna Swanson. Gloria grew up in Lakeport and as a teenager she worked as an usher at the Lakeport Movie Theatre, where she met her future husband, Glenn. Gloria married Glenn L. Wilds January 20, 1950. They had three children and 60 years of marriage where they enjoyed life working, playing, dancing, hunting, fishing and traveling together, just to name a few. After marriage, Gloria spent her entire life, raising their family and working on their ranch in Big Valley. She was an expert seamstress and after spending her days working on the ranch, at night, she would take in sewing for people to help ends meet. Gloria was also a sewing leader for the local 4-H Club. She spent many summers cutting fruit at the Adobe Creek Dry Yards. There was nothing Gloria could not do. She operated every piece of farm equipment including a caterpillar tractor. She could not only keep up with the best, she was usually leading the group. Gloria could build anything she set her mind to. She grew a garden large enough to provide food to lots of families in the valley. She would spend days making walnut pies and delivering them to family, friends and neighbors during the holidays. She was among the first to volunteer at the Lakeport Volunteer Fire House back in the day, making sandwiches to be delivered to the volunteer firemen out on the fire line. She was employed for many years by the Westlake Soil Conservation Office. Gloria taught many children how to swim, not only her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, for several years she provided swimming lessons to the students from the Lakeport Elementary School in the pool at the Clear Lake High School. She also taught many adults how to swim, she enjoyed it immensely. She volunteered at the Kelseyville Methodist Church Thrift Shop weekly for over 30 years. Gloria is predeceased by her husband, Glenn; son, Daniel; two sisters, Burt and Pandora, as well her three brothers, Frank, Clarence and Clyde. She is survived by her daughter, Dottie McIntire and son, Mike (Marta) Wilds; grandchildren, Daniel (Wendy) McIntire, Terry (Amber) McIntire, Lisa (Jason) Lykken, Patricia Wilds and Heath Wilds; great-grandchildren, Nolan, Beth (Scott), Shaelyn, Faith, Jessica (Nick), Cassandra, Alexandra, Haley, Dustin and Riley Ann; Great-Great Grandchildren, Ryker, Hayden and Alyssa; and one honorary grandson, Zachary Haas. Gloria and her dedication to Lake County will be missed very much by her family and all those who knew and loved her. Graveside Funeral Service will be held at 11:00 AM. on Monday, October 7, 2024 at Hartley Cemetery. In Gloria’s memory, family prefers donations be made to the Danny Wilds 4-H Scholarship, which is now in an endowment, overseen by the University of California. These funds are used to provide a scholarship to the recipient of the Danny Wilds Perpetual Trophy during the Lake County Fair and to provide scholarships for 4-H youth that need assistance in attending the Mendocino-Lake 4-H camp. Donations can be mailed to California 4-H Foundation, 2801 Second Street, Davis, CA 95618. The check needs to be made out to the California 4-H Foundation, in the correspondence with the check please be sure to include that you wish the monies go to the Danny Wilds Memorial 4-H Fund. Donations can also be made to the Lakeport Volunteer Fire Department, 445 N. Main St., Lakeport, CA 95453.