Gloria V. Modliszewski

Gloria Victoria Modliszewski, age 83, passed peacefully from this life on the morning of December 24, 2025. Born in Garfield Heights on July 12, 1942, to Stephen and Frances (nee Perka) Cichocki, Gloria graduated from Garfield Heights High School and spent two years at Alliance College before working as a bank teller. In 1967, she married Francis Modliszewski, whom she had met at a cousin’s wedding. They settled down in the Chagrin Falls area, where they raised their four kids, and where they eventually helped care for many of their grandchildren. After splitting their time between Chagrin and Port Clinton for many years, Gloria and Frank moved to the Port Clinton–Marblehead area full-time in 2011, moving back to the Chagrin area in early 2025. Gloria was a loving “Busha” who proudly shared Polish traditions with her kids and grandkids, teaching them to dance the polka, sing “Sto Lat” at birthdays, and make pierogies for the family’s annual Wigilia celebration. She loved thrifting before it was cool, finding treasures at Goodwill and other favorite stores. Her grandkids remember Gloria and Frank’s Port Clinton house as the “fun house.” Gloria cared for her aging parents and in-laws, as well as her sister-in-law, and took in anyone who needed a place to stay, whether for a night, months, or years; nobody was a stranger at Gloria and Frank’s table. Gloria enjoyed spending time with family and friends, singing, gardening, baking, and sewing. She will be missed by many.

Gloria is survived by her beloved husband of 58 years, Frank; her daughters, Brenda (Paul Azzolina) Modliszewski, Stephanie (James) Ewell, Madaline (Chuck) Avis, and daughter-in-law Jodie (Chris Koshar) Modliszewski; and her grandchildren Emily, Ben, Nick, Michael, and Sophia Modliszewski and Aidyn Koshar; Shep Azzolina; Joey and SadieMae Ewell; and Tori and Kyle Avis. She was preceded in death by her parents; her parents-in-law, Raymond and Pauline (nee Kolik) Modliszewski; her brother, Greg Cichocki, husband of Camela Cichocki; her sister-in-law, Marie Modliszewski; and her son, Kevin.

Family and friends will be received at St. John Funeral Home,16381 Chillicothe Rd., Bainbridge Twp., OH, on Friday, January 9, 2026, from 4 P.M. to 7 P.M. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Joan of Arc Church (where Gloria was a longtime parishioner), 496 E. Washington St., Chagrin Falls, OH 44022, on Saturday, January 10, 2026, at 10 A.M. followed by interment at Western Reserve Memorial Gardens, 11521 Chillicothe Rd., Chesterland, OH 44026.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Gloria’s memory to Arden Courts of Chagrin Falls or Compassionate Care Hospice.