Gloria Lynn (Verplank) Throne

Gloria Lynn Throne, age 83, passed away peacefully on Tuesday November 22 2022 at Saint Luke’s Hospice House in Kansas City from complications of renal cancer. She is survived by her daughter Julie Throne, son Anthony Lathrop (Adrianna Lathrop), close friend Ed Fitzgerald, and grandchildren Byron, Jane, and Taylor Lathrop.

Gloria had a wide variety of talents and interests. She went to high school in Columbus Indiana, later earning a bachelor’s degree from Hanover College and a master’s degree in education from Indiana University. She worked as an elementary school teacher in Elletsville Indiana and Lawrence Kansas.

As a college student, Gloria worked in the Saddle Barn at Brown County State Park in Indiana. An accomplished rider, she accumulated an impressive collection of ribbons and trophies in cutting horse competition.

She was musically gifted and very active in the music scene in Lawrence. She was a founding organizer of the Douglas County Fiddling and Picking Championship (forerunner to the annually continuing Kansas State Fiddling and Picking Championship). Gloria sang and played bass in the Lemming Family bluegrass group in the 1970s. She also contributed her musical talents in Catholic circles, including singing and helping to plan Taize services at the Society of the Precious Blood in Liberty Missouri. She was a member of St James Parish in Liberty. She was an Oblate of St Benedict and well known at the abbey in Atchison Kansas. She also was a volunteer in the library at Mount St Scholastica also in Atchison. In recent years Gloria became an avid bridge player and made a new circle of bridge friends.

She was a producer and researcher at KANU radio focusing on folklore programming. She served in the Kansas State Arts Commission and participated in a variety of activities in the Native American community in Lawrence.

Gloria was deeply connected in multiple communities and touched many lives. She will be missed by many.

A Memorial visitation will be from 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM on Friday, December 2, 2022 at St. James Catholic Church in Liberty, Missouri. Memorial Mass will be at 11:00 AM at the church.

A Memorial visitation will be from 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM on Friday, December 2, 2022 at St. James Catholic Church in Liberty, Missouri. Memorial Mass will be at 11:00 AM at the church.