Gloria Junge, the Society’s Secretary, passed away on July 31, following a short illness. A memorial service will be held Sunday, September 18, 1-3 p.m., at Hill Center, 921 Pennsylvania Ave. SE.

Gloria on the occasion of her retirement as CHRS Office Manager

Gloria was born in New Jersey in 1947 and went to Viet Nam with the Red Cross in the mid 1960’s. Soon after, she joined the State Department, spending most of her career abroad with postings to Iran, Brazil, Swaziland, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Botswana and Uganda. Adventure and challenge were never in short supply as she left Iran just before the hostage crisis and served in Uganda while Idi Amin was still in power. She bought her house on Capitol Hill in 1990 where it served as her home base during her overseas deployments.  Gloria returned to the District, permanently, in 2001 and became the CHRS Office Manager from 2008 until retiring from that position in 2014. She also served as the Finance Committee Chair for the North Lincoln Park Neighborhood Assn. (NLPNA) and was the very best of neighbors. She cared deeply for animals, including a long procession of pets, the cheetahs at the National Zoo and the squirrels in her neighbor’s tree. Her display of animal figures collected during her Foreign Service career in Africa was endlessly fascinating to children passing by her yard. She is survived by her brother and sister-in-law, Bobby and Terry Junge; her nephew, Thomas Alburtus; and her cousins, Paul and Ann Pawchak; her beloved African gray parrot, K.C., whom she rescued from a street bazaar in Kampala City, Uganda; her cat, CocoPuff, and a host of friends and neighbors. Donations in her memory can be made to the ASPCA, World Wildlife Fund or CHRS.