Victor Raymond Glembocki Jr. Obituary

Victor Raymond Glembocki Jr., 84, passed away unexpectedly on May 21, 2023, at Northside Hospital Forsyth in Cumming, GA, where he and wife Judy moved in 2018 to be near their daughter’s family.

No one thought Vic—known at times as Sonny, Gumball, Bud, Uncle Bug, Mr. G, and Poppy–would ever leave Erie, PA, where he was born March 1, 1939, to the late Dorothy (Grzegorzewski) and Victor R. Glembocki Sr. He attended St. Hedwig School, Cathedral Prep, and Gannon University, and was working for the City of Erie when a buddy brought him to meet some Pittsburgh girls vacationing on Kelso Beach. There, Vic met Judy Shields from Gibsonia, PA, and, by week’s end, she was wearing his pin. In 1952, while Vic was on leave from the army, they married. In December 2022, the pair celebrated 60 years of singing, cooking, traveling, and always, always holding hands.

Vic sold semis at Fleet Sales, industrial equipment for Reed Supply Co., and worked part-time in retirement at Dusckas Funeral Home. He was a member of the Polish Falcons and the Maennerchor, where he bowled duckpins, often cited in the paper for his “hotshot” scores. Active on and off stage at the Erie Playhouse, he performed in Pirates of Penzance, South Pacific, Mame, and Nicholas Nickleby. Thanks to his distinguished look, he appeared in many local TV and print ads. Members of the Church of the Covenant, Vic (an usher) and Judy participated in Koinonia and served dinners for the city’s homeless. In Georgia, he volunteered at Cumming First United Methodist Church’s Food Pantry, where he greeted coworkers every week with a new joke.

Vic’s greatest joy was his girls. He never missed a game or opening night for granddaughters Blair(18), Drew(16), and Camille(11). He was the most supportive, involved father to his “favorite daughter” Vicki, making sure she always had gas in her tank and Poppy Soup in her fridge. (Vic and son-in-law Thad often escaped the estrogen to drink a “popper.”) Above all, Judy was his center. They cared for each other with effortless kindness and fun. She called him her “sweet man.”

Vic is survived by wife Judy (Shields) Glembocki; daughter Vicki Glembocki (Thad Henninger); granddaughters Blair, Drew, and Camille Henninger; sister Elaine Mango; in-laws Bonnie and Carl Adler and Richard and Barb Shields; cousins Kathy Kutz and Michelle Wheaton; lifelong friends David and Beverly Doupé; and 7 nieces and 1 nephew.

Special thanks to Ingram Funeral Home and to Northside’s ICU nurses, especially Ana and Belinda who cared for Poppy as if he were their own.

A Celebration of Life service will be held on July 15 at 11 a.m. at Cumming First United Methodist Church, 770 Canton Hwy., Cumming, GA 30040. In lieu of flowers, please surprise a friend, family member, or neighbor with a homemade dinner.