People of Lincoln: Gloria Overstreet
That Smiling Face Behind The Counter
By Randy Bretz
I got to know Gloria as the woman with the warm smile and welcome comments when I’d beep in at Madonna Proactive. Then we bumped into each other at The Lied, and our paths crossed when I attended an event at the South Street Temple. That’s the way it is in Lincoln, meet someone and next thing you know you’re bumping into them here and there around town. It was those brief encounters that uncovered a fascinating story about this Brooklyn, New York, native who now makes Lincoln her home.
Her journey to Lincoln started in Brooklyn where she grew up, includes a stop in Lexington, Kentucky, where she pursued a graduate degree and met her husband, then believe it or not out to the Chadron area where she raised her kids, and finally to Lincoln.
“The boys were four and seven when we moved from Kentucky to Chadron. I loved that community, raised our sons, and spent time in a variety of jobs including working at the Chadron State College bookstore, a dental clinic, and teaching. Oh, and I got a part-time job with the U.S. Forest Service searching in the Nebraska National Forest for Pygmy Nuthatches.” Gloria shared that she’d drive their pickup out into the forest, then hike around listening for the distinct call of this tiny little bird that they thought might live in the Ponderosa pines which populate the National Forest.
Gloria transitioned from searching the National Forest for the half-ounce Pygmy Nuthatch to transporting wounded raptors to the Raptor Conservation Alliance in Elmwood, Nebraska. These raptors are large birds—sometimes a foot or more tall and weighing as much as several pounds. When one is injured and reported, volunteers like Gloria are called in to handle the birds and transport them to the Alliance.
In 2012, Gloria moved to Lincoln to be near her sons, both of whom attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. One son is now a structural engineer based in Omaha and the other is working on a Ph.D. in French Literature in Virginia. “I miss the prairie, the Sandhills, but I’m going to stay in Lincoln where I’ve gotten to know people. Working at Madonna Proactive has given me a social outlet and it’s fun running into people I know at The Lied.”
Randy Bretz is well past 55, and he enjoys life as a father, grandfather, great-grandfather, storyteller, author, professor, communicator, and civic activist.