Glenda Jean Karr Gleckner

Glenda Jean Karr Gleckner of Chapel Hill, NC, died peacefully at her home on Thursday, July 24, 2025. She was 99 years old. 

Glenda was born March 21, 1926, in Aurora, NE, to Glenn Wesley Karr and Freda Frances Klimper Karr. She was the fourth of four children, with two sisters, Adelaine and Nadyne, and a brother, Frank. Glenda grew up in Hastings, NE and attended Hastings High School, where she was very involved in school activities. She played clarinet in the band and orchestra and was a cheerleader and majorette. She graduated in June 1944 and just a few months later met her future husband, Robert F. Gleckner, at a reception at the Harvard Army Airfield in Hastings, NE. Robert and Glenda were married on February 7, 1946, in the Presbyterian Church in Hastings, NE. 

From 1946-1962, while her husband completed his undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees and began his career as a college professor, Glenda and Robert made their home in Williamstown, MAs; Montgomery, AL; Cincinnati, OH; Madison, WI; and Detroit, MI. To help support her husband while he was completing his studies and beginning his career, Glenda worked both at home and on the college campuses where her husband was first a student then instructor, doing clerical work for university faculty members and typing her husband’s PhD dissertation. 

In 1962, when Robert was offered a position as Professor of English at the University of California, Riverside, they – along with their two small children, Jeffrey & Susan -- moved to the small community of Grand Terrace in southern California, on the outskirts of Riverside. 

An excellent musician dating back to high school, Glenda played clarinet with the Riverside Symphony Orchestra and directed three popular musical productions for UC Riverside, sponsored by the Faculty Club, with proceeds going to student scholarships. “The Forties Follies,” “The Forties Follies II,” and “The Flapper Follies,” produced and directed by Glenda from 1974-1976, featured many of UCR’s students and faculty members, including the chancellor of the university. She was also very involved with the UCR Faculty Wives Club and helped plan and organize yearly dinner dances for faculty members. She also took up painting as a hobby, played classical piano, and enjoyed snow skiing and genealogy. In 1978, her husband was offered a position as Professor of English at Duke University, so Glenda and Robert moved from California to Raleigh, NC. Robert taught at Duke University until his death in 2001, after which Glenda moved to Chapel Hill. 

Glenda was preceded in death by her husband, Robert F. Gleckner; parents, Glenn Karr and Freda Karr Schoonover; son, Jeffrey Michael Gleckner; sisters, Adelaine Donahoo and Nadyne Bickley Stone; and brother, Frank Wesley Karr. 

She is survived by her daughter, Susan Gleckner Breyer (Ron) of Beaumont, CA; six grandchildren: Karryn Lurock (Jamie), Kristen Montes (Jerry), Joseph Breyer (Gwyneth), Gregory Breyer (Julia), Heather Breyer Han (Abraham), and Amanda Breyer Koziol (Tobin); and 12 great-grandchildren: Tristan, Julian and Karlia Montes, Roman and Jaxton Lurock, Nixon and Freya Breyer, Llyr and Gwynhwyfar Breyer, Miles Han, and Owen and Ethan Koziol. 

Private interment will be at Parkview Cemetery, Hastings, NE. In lieu of flowers, and for those who would like to make a memorial donation by check, please make check payable to “UCR Foundation” in memory of Glenda Gleckner for the “Theatre Arts Fund.” Mailing Address: UCR Foundation, PO Box 112, Riverside, CA 92502-0112. For online donations to the UC Riverside Theater program, go to https://tinyurl.com/UCRgivecampusGlendaGleckner.