Gloria Abbie Church

Gloria (Abbie) Church, age 84, was called home to be with the Lord on April 12th, 2026. Abbie was a devoted member of Queen of Heaven Church.

Abbie was born in Contreras, New Mexico in 1942 to Salvador and Siria Moya. She was the second of 6 siblings. Abbie loved exploring her countryside home with her siblings and cousins as a child and would visit her relatives there whenever she could. When Abbie was 10, the family permanently moved to Albuquerque and she and her siblings grew up in the South Valley.

After graduating from Rio Grande High School, she worked at various jobs, then as a dental assistant for Dr. Purtell. She unselfishly used her earnings to help care for her younger siblings by paying for their doctor and dental visits and making sure they had presents for their birthdays and Christmas.

In 1965 she met her future husband, David A. Church, at a Catholic youth group dance and they wed in 1967. They had one daughter and two sons.

After being a devoted stay-at-home mom, she finally fulfilled her life-long dream of going to college. She earned her Bachelor's degree in elementary education and became a bilingual Kindergarten teacher at La Luz Elementary. She truly loved teaching, especially being able to do so in her native language, Spanish.

After retirement, Abbie and Dave took as many road trips as possible around the state and also out of state. One of the highlights of her life was being able to travel with her husband to "The Holy Land", Jerusalem, and also Rome, Vatican City, as both Abbie and Dave were devout Catholics.

Abbie enjoyed reading books tremendously, even her children's required reading during middle school and high school, gardening with her devoted husband, visiting with family and making the best-tasting traditional New Mexican foods, such as tamales, bizcochitos, empanadas, sopapillas, and tortillas from scratch. She also made the best tasting birthday cakes from scratch for every birthday for all of her children.

As she got older, Abbie and Dave loved to spend time with their grandchildren by taking them on road trips, reading to them, and making sure their holidays and birthdays were special times. She also devoted her later years to Bible study and building her faith in God.

Abbie was a completely devoted wife, mom, grandma, great-grandma, sister, and aunt. Most importantly to her was her faith in God.

She was preceded in death by her parents; older sister, Sally, and brother, Ernest.

She is survived by her husband, David A. Church; children, Katrina Chavez (Roy), Andrew Church (Shelly), and Greg Church; her grandchildren, Jessica, Desiree, Zechariah, Mikayla, Victoria, Makayla, Isabella, David and Desire; great-grandchildren, Gavriella, Kaydance, Samuel, Bruce, Brylee, and Kylee; siblings, Efrain Moya (Rebecca), Joann Jaeger (Mick), and Jerry Moya (Josie) along with too many to list extended family members and friends.

'She fought the good fight, finished the race and kept the faith.' 2 Timothy 4:7

Special thanks to Presbyterian Hospital care team for treating her with such care and dignity.

In lieu of flowers, the family is asking to please donate to any charity in Abbie's name. The family will be holding a Visitation/Vigil service for Abbie on Monday, April 20th, 2026 from 11:00am - 1:00pm at FRENCH - Wyoming. A Rosary, followed by a Mass of Catholic Burial will begin at 9:30am, on Tuesday, April 21st at Queen of Heaven Catholic Church. Abbie will be laid to rest at Mount Calvary Catholic Cemetery immediately following mass.