GLORIA ANN BLAKE

07/17/1942 - 11/29/2022

Gloria Ann Blake of Houston, TX, owner and founder of Southampton Montessori School, passed away November 29, 2022 at the age of 80.

Gloria was born July 17, 1942 to Roland Hugh and Melanie Marie Crum Dinger in Ferriday, Louisiana and graduated from Ferriday

High School in 1960. Shortly after graduation, she set off to Houston to pursue a modeling career. She modeled for the Ben Shaw Agency, becoming one of the top fashion and print models in Houston at the time.

In 1969, her love for children inspired her to open Southampton Montessori out of her family home. Over the past 53 years, she grew the school into what it is today. She was the heart and soul of Southampton Montessori, providing a warm, loving environment for children of the working families in the neighborhood. She touched the lives of thousands of families and inspired hundreds of employees that have come through the doors of Southampton. In 2004 she was awarded Businesswoman of the Year and in 2019 she was recognized by The Institute of Montessori Education for 50 years of leadership and dedication to Montessori Education.

She was a member of First Presbyterian Church, serving as a Stephen Minister. Together, she and her husband Glenn, were also members of First Presbyterian Church in Giddings and were active in the Cowboys 4 Heroes organization. They lived out the last 10 years of their lives spending weekends on their ranch in McDade hosting family and friends, enjoying country living and watching beautiful sunsets.

Gloria was preceded in death by her parents and husband Glenn. She is survived by her sons, Andre, Adam and Alexander Kliebert and his children, Madeline and Peyton; daughter April McMayon, her husband, Jerad and their children Georgia and Davis; brother Jimmy Dinger and wife, Connie of Natchez, MS; sister Leah Rowan and husband Ed of Ferriday, LA; Aunt Jeanie Hale; nephews, Jason Dinger, and Joshua and Chris Dupree as well as extended family.

A memorial service will be held at 4:30 p.m. on December 14 at First Presbyterian Church-Houston. Her ashes will be inurned in the Memorial Garden. The service will be streamed at https://fpchouston.org/ ministries/adults/memorialsand-memorial-garden/. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Tunnels to Towers Foundation and Cowboys 4 Heroes.