Gloria Elaine Bello passed away, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025, in Lake Charles at a local hospice facility. Gloria was born on April 20, 1941, in Washington D.C. The family moved to Bethesda, Md. in 1950, where she graduated from Bethesda Chevy Chase High School in 1959 and the University of Maryland in 1964.

Gloria worked as a flight attendant in Dallas until she and Charlie Kennedy married in Washington, D.C. and later moved to Lake Charles in 1966. She always said that she fell in love with Lake Charles right away.

She worked as a case manager for the State of Louisiana Department of Public Welfare, Vocational Rehabilitation and then retired from the Department of Mental Health in 1995. She also worked part time as an apartment manager and a realtor.

Gloria loved to play the ancient game of Mah Jongg with her many friends. She also taught many to play. She was also involved in crafts and sold her Mardi Gras items wholesale and retail for many years. She also created many counted cross stitch pictures for herself and her friends.

Genealogy was her passion since 1997 when she got her first computer. She researched not only her own many families, but she helped her friends find their ancestors.

Gloria is survived by her daughter, April Elaine Kennedy; sister, Janet Downing Taylor; grandchildren, Jared Kennedy, Jonah Kennedy and Carsyn Kennedy; great-grandchildren, Madelyn Kennedy, Aiden Kennedy, Sofia Kennedy, Skylar Kennedy, Grayson Kennedy; cousins, Jim Jacoby, Bill Jacoby, Marily Packard and Nancy Packard.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Carleton and Geraldine Smith; her husband, Allen Bello; son, Charles (Chad) Louis Kennedy III; the father of her children, Charles Louis Kennedy Jr.

According to her wishes, she will be cremated under the direction of Johnson Funeral Home, 4321 Lake St. Lake Charles, LA. 70605. Her ashes will be inurned at Consolata Cemetery at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to University United Methodist Church in Lake Charles or the charity of one’s choice.

In true Gloria style she left these words, “There comes a time in your life, when you walk away from all the drama and people who create it. You surround yourself with people who make you laugh, forget the bad and focus on the good. Love the people who treat you right, pray for the ones who don’t. Life is too short to be anything but happy.”

“Falling down is a part of life, getting back up is living”