Gloria Liddle Bourassa, 82, passed away peacefully in her home in Westland, MI on March 16.
Gloria was born on December 4, 1938 to James and Florence Liddle in Detroit, MI. She grew up in Livonia and graduated from Bentley High School in 1956. She married fellow Bentley alum Donald Tartoni in 1963, and they had two children. Together, they moved to Phoenix, AZ in 1976 where Gloria remained for over 40 years. Her second marriage was to Richard Bourassa, also from the Detroit area, who was the love of her life. Through him, she gained three adult step-children. She and Richard were happily married for 32 years before he passed away in 2016. They scraped together their savings shortly after marrying and, leveraging their respective experience in the furniture industry, started a retail furniture store out of their garage. She and Richard grew Only Oak Furniture into several stores and enjoyed over 20 years as a vibrant business. They provided jobs to many people looking for a second chance in life and were grateful for the opportunity to help others find employment and a community in Only Oak.
Gloria moved back to Michigan in 2019 to be closer to her sister, Florence Cook of Whitmore Lake. She is survived by her two daughters, Laura Hartgrove and Krista Tartoni, of Surprise, AZ and Chicago, IL, respectively, a step-daughter and two step-sons as well as five grandchildren. She was extraordinarily blessed to live to see her great-grandchild.
Funeral services will be held on Saturday, March 20 at Manns Family Funeral Home, 17000 Middlebelt in Livonia at 10:00am.