Gloria Faye Coykendall

Gloria Faye (Reida) Coykendall was born in Harper, Kansas, on December 30, 1936. She was called home on October 12, 2026.

She was the first child of Harold Loren Reida and Helen Ruth Welch. She had one brother, Harold Franklin “Sonny” Reida. The family farmed and ranched in Harper County, Kansas.

On December 26, 1960, Gloria married the love of her life, Donald Gene “Don” Coykendall. They shared 47 years together until Don’s passing in 2008. Together, they raised four children: Robert, Kevin, Kathy, and Mike. Their family grew to include seven grandchildren: Meleah, Josie, Dena, Megan, Kali, Miranda, and Brent, as well as great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.

Although Gloria would say her primary occupation was homemaker, she also served her community in several other roles throughout her life. In the late 1950s, she worked as a switchboard operator for the Haviland Telephone Company in Harper. In the mid-1970s, she worked as a clerk at the Norwich Post Office. In the late 1970s, she attended Bryan Institute, where she graduated at the top of her class in nursing assistant training. She went on to work as a nursing assistant for a short time.

Gloria’s Christian faith was central to her life. It brought her great comfort and hope, and she wanted to share that hope with everyone she met. She was a longtime, active member of Norwich Baptist Church in Norwich, Kansas. She and Don also supported many charitable causes, especially those benefiting children in need.

Gloria had a special gift for expressing compassion and encouragement through the written word. She wrote countless letters in her beautiful handwriting, offering comfort, kindness, and hope to others. Even after dementia began making everyday tasks more difficult, she continued to write letters, though many eventually went unmailed.

Her creativity found expression in many forms, including journaling, creative writing, poetry, drawing, painting, crafts, singing, and whistling. She published two books of poetry and drawings, sharing her artistic gifts with others.

Gloria also devoted considerable time and effort to documenting her family’s history through genealogy, remembered stories, and newspaper clippings. She believed every life and every person’s experiences had value and deserved to be remembered. Preserving those stories became a meaningful and extensive project to which she gave much of herself.

One of Gloria’s guiding sentiments was captured in a letter she once wrote: “Do what you have with joy — it will be a glory to God.”

Those words reflect the faith, purpose, and spirit with which she approached life.

In keeping with her desire to share her faith through her writing, Gloria also left behind many poems. Among them was the following, which beautifully expresses her belief that even the smallest act of faith can bear fruit beyond what we may ever see.

Of What Worth Is a Seed?

A few apple seeds I hold in my hand;

It seems too little to do anything grand.

I can count them as less than my ten fingers.

Why bother to plant? My question lingers.

I laid them aside, found another chore,

Kept myself busy, thought about them no more.

God’s Holy Spirit came, gave me a directive

To see those seeds from His perspective.

“In each tiny seed is a tree and its fruit.

You plant what you have. Get busy! Do it!

And… I have given you seeds of another kind;

Set them foremost in your heart and mind.

Prepare a soul’s soil, in it, sow the seed.

Water it faithfully.

Pull out weed after weed.

In faith and in love, sow where you go;

These small God seeds

Produce more than you know!”

Gloria was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Don; her brother, Sonny; and her children, Kathy and Robert.

Memorial graveside service will be held 10:30 a.m. Saturday, October 24, 2026 at the Harper City Cemetery with Pastor Eric Taylor officiating.

Memorial donations may be made directly payable to the Norwich First Baptist Church and can be sent in care of Prairie Rose Funeral Home, 613 W. 14th Street, Harper, KS 67058.