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Gloria M. Foster, bizwoman and beauty, dies at 84

WHEN GLORIA FOUNTAIN walked down the street, the boys would stop and stare. The cry would go up, "Here comes Gloria!"

WHEN GLORIA FOUNTAIN walked down the street, the boys would stop and stare.

The cry would go up, "Here comes Gloria!"

She had long hair down her back and she was a sight to behold, as attested by the judges of the various beauty contests she won.

There was Miss U.S.O. in 1944, Miss Sepia and Miss Easter Seal, among others.

Gloria Fountain, who became Gloria Foster after marrying Patrick H. Foster in 1950, a co-owner with her husband of a successful country club in Virginia and a retail saleswoman who would bring in customers with her sparkling personality, died Aug. 17. She was 84 and lived in Germantown.

Gloria was also a compassionate caregiver who gathered newspaper coupons and went shopping at supermarkets for food and other items for shut-ins, the homeless and other needy people in North Philadelphia.

"She loved to share," said her daughter, Patricia Myers-Foster. "She loved to give and provide for others.

"And for her family, too much was never enough."

Gloria was born in Philadelphia, the seventh of the 16 children of Phillip Fountain Sr. and the former Sallie Barton. She attended Simon Gratz High School.

She was also a dedicated churchwoman, first with Miller Memorial Baptist, where she was active in various ministries, and later with Zion Baptist, in Ardmore.

Gloria's parents were from Virginia and she liked to reminisce about visiting relatives in Gum Tree, Hanover County, as a child and adult.

There was, for instance, Aunt Lizzie's plum tree. Gloria recalled sitting under the tree with the tempting fruit within reach and knowing the fierce Aunt Lizzie had forbidden her to touch it.

After defying Aunt Lizzie's injunction and having her fill of the delicious plums, Gloria dived into a nearby pond to get the incriminating stains off her face and hands.

She recalled with fondness her paternal grandmother, whom she called "Nanny" and who would bake biscuits with jelly centers, put them in an apron and hand them out to eager children.

"They were the dirtiest, but best biscuits ever," she told her family.

Gloria also spoke often, and perhaps with some puzzlement, of how her family of 16 children survived.

"Her parents somehow knew how to make it work," her daughter said. "The children always had the best, a bountiful cupboard and enough to share with others."

After her marriage to Patrick Foster, the couple moved to Ashland, Va., where they ran the Lake Forest Country Club, catering to a predominantly African-American clientele.

"She thoroughly enjoyed greeting and meeting guests, as well as the entertainers who came to perform," her daughter said.

"Returning to Philadelphia, she began working for various retail establishments, as a saleswoman and as an installment collector, traveling the city to pick up payments from people who had made purchases on credit."

After suffering a recent stroke, Gloria was diagnosed with leukemia. She died of complications of pneumonia.

Her husband died in 1987. Besides her daughter, she is survived by two sisters, Cynthia Treadwell and Doris Marriott; two brothers, Ronald and Roger Fountain; two grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

Services: Were Saturday.

Burial was in West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd.