Gloria F. Haberkorn

Gloria Haberkorn, 95, formerly of Overland Park KS, passed away June 13th, 2024 in Emporia, surrounded by family. Her strong will and determination enabled her to overcome many health obstacles with remarkable resilience during the past five years. 

Gloria grew up in Buffalo NY with her parents, Frank and Pauline Hojnowski and younger sisters Florence and Barbara. Gloria earned her bachelor’s degree of nursing in 1949 from the Children’s Hospital School of Nursing, Buffalo NY. She was a Registered Nurse for almost 40 years. Her greatest joy was caring for babies and children. She worked in many areas of healthcare, eventually retiring from St. Luke’s Hospital of Kansas City in 1989.

Gloria was an avid gardener and seamstress. She belonged to and was once president of the Lenexa chapter of the AVA, the American Volkssport Association and was proud to have completed 10k and 20k walks in almost every state in the US. She was an active member of the Spirit Movers of Holy Spirit Catholic Church, former troop leader for the Girl Scouts of America and donated her time to the Meals on Wheels program.

She is survived by her three children: Kurt (Cindy) Haberkorn, Emporia, KS, Betsy (David) Wiard, Reno, NV, and Gretchen (Robert) Merdian, Lee’s Summit, MO and her sister Barbara Millar of Norwalk, CT.

She is preceded in death by her husband Richard C. “Dick” Haberkorn, her sister Florence (Stanley) Jastrzab and Dick’s sister Ruth (Donald) Leopold.

Gloria adored her seven grandchildren: Erik & Beth Haberkorn, Kate (Josiah) King; Danny (Alex), Joey, Donny (Meagan) and Jimmy (Katie) Merdian, and two great grandchildren Benjamin and Brody.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held October 7th, 10:30am, at Holy Spirit Catholic Church, in Overland Park, KS, followed by inurnment together with her late husband Richard, at Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery, 1:30pm, with military honors on the date which would have been their 74th wedding anniversary. In lieu of flowers, Gloria requested memorial donations be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.