Gloria Schwing VanDenBroeke was born May 20, 1960 in Brookings, to Sebastian and Ethel Lavone Schwing. She grew up on a farm near Elkton. She graduated from Lake Benton High School in 1978, and attended Southwest Minnesota State University, graduating in 1982 with a Bachelor of Science in Business and Marketing. After time spent in the workforce, she returned to SMSU and graduated in 2002 with a Master of Science in Business Administration.
Gloria married Ronald VanDenBroeke on February 14, 1987 and spent many years living in Marshall, MN, working for the Schwan Food Company for more than 25 years. Initially in the accounting department with retail sales, Gloria spent additional time with the Grocery Products Division, performing market research and product development; ultimately serving as Director of Research for the Foodservice division. In 2010, Gloria moved to Minneapolis and worked for General Mills, Inc. for 5 years as a Senior Global Consumer Insights Associate, and most recently as a Market Insights Associate for Cargill Feed and Nutrition.
Gloria enjoyed crafting, ATVing with friends, traveling to areas with warm weather and sunny beaches, and working in her garden. While living in Minneapolis, Gloria enjoyed volunteering at the Guthrie Theater. As an advocate for mental illness, Gloria volunteered as an educator with NAMI of Minnesota. Gloria was diagnosed with stage four metastatic renal cell (kidney) carcinoma in December 2017. After a short but courageous battle, she passed away peacefully with family and friends by her side on May 9, 2018.
Gloria is survived by her husband, Ronald VanDenBroeke of Minneapolis, MN; children Andrea VanDenBroeke (Stephen Dee) of Queens, NY and Andrew VanDenBroeke (Darcy Gladis) of Minneapolis, MN; parents Sebastian and Beverly Schwing of Brookings; siblings Cecilia (Ron) Cheney of Brookings, Dorothy (Joe) Popowski of Ivanhoe, MN, Ann (Joe) Pavek of Ivanhoe, MN; Laura Schwing of Shakopee, MN, Edwin Schwing of Las Vegas, NV, and Elsie (Chris) McCree of Brookings, numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and other relatives and friends.
She was preceded in death by her daughter Allison Rose VanDenBroeke, and infant son Anthony; mother Ethel Lavone Schwing; and brothers Sebastian Jr. and Gregory Schwing.
In lieu of flowers, memorials preferred to NAMI – Minnesota, National Alliance on Mental Illness or the Kidney Cancer Association.
