San Francisco County
Biographies
WILLIAM J.
GLORIA
In the front rank of the successful younger attorneys now engaged in practice in San Francisco is William J. Gloria, member of the legal firm of Gloria & McDonnell, with offices at 1118 Hobart building, 582 Market street. He was born in Oakland, California, July 15, 1897, and is a son of William S. and Anna (Collins) Gloria.
The Gloria family is one of the most distinguished and wealthy in the country of Brazil. William G. Gloria, who is now the editor and publisher of a Portuguese daily newspaper, was born in Pico, Azores Islands. He obtained an excellent education for the priesthood, but while preparing himself for holy orders he met and fell in love with the girl who is now his wife. To his own satisfaction, but to the disappointment of his family and preceptors, his course in life was thereby changed. He came to California in the later ‘70s, and has since continuously engaged in journalism. He was one of the founders of the U. E. P. C., in which there were twelve original members, this being a Portuguese benevolent association, and one of the richest organizations of its kind in the state. Among the Portuguese, he bears honorable classification as a don. His brother, one of the largest landowners in Brazil, is a leading banker of the city of Buenos Aires. Anna (Collins) Gloria, the mother of the subject of this biography, was born in Santa Ana, California, a daughter of Andrew Collins, and the youngest in a family of eight. Her father was one of the early gold miners in California.
William J. Gloria, who was the only child born to his parents, attended the parochial and public schools of Sacramento, California, finishing his education by graduation from the Sacramento high school. During his school years, he held a reputation in athletics, especially in baseball, in which sport he was manager and catcher for the high school team. During the World war period, Mr. Gloria enlisted in the United States Army, but owing to an accident to his right hand he was disqualified for military duties. By special dispensation, however, he was assigned to the medical department of the Eighty-ninth Division. He was dispatched to Fort Riley, Kansas, from which point, after a short stay, he was sent overseas, where he served for twenty-three months, or until the close of hostilities. On his arrival in France, he was attached to the office of Major Merritt W. Ireland, surgeon general, and was commissioned as a master hospital sergeant, with which rank he was discharged in 1919.
On his return to the United States, he took up the study of law at Hastings College in San Francisco, and graduated in the spring of 1923. He was admitted to the California state bar, and immediately entered private practice, which he has continued with marked success to the present time. He has given special attention to cases in criminal jurisprudence, and has won national recognition in five such trials, also is now engaged upon the sixth, which is the sensational Rosetta Baker murder case. He is chief counsel in the defense of the indicted Chinaman, Leu Fook. During his boyhood, Mr. Gloria had aspirations to be a doctor, but the length of time necessary for a medical education deferred him from this course, and he chose the law instead. This has proved to be a fortunate turn of affairs, for in the legal profession he has won success beyond his most optimistic youthful dreams. He is a member of the San Francisco County Bar Association, the California State Bar Association and the American Bar Association.
On January 10, 1927, Mr. Gloria was united in marriage to Miss Elida Burke, who was born in San Francisco, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Burke, who is now deceased, was one of the pioneers of the city and a respected citizen.
Mr. Gloria owns a portion of his father’s newspaper enterprise. He is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the American Legion, and the Press Club. He is a republican in politics, and his religion is that of the Roman Catholic Church. He has taken a sincere and active interest in all things which have local and national significance, and has given his cooperation and services on many occasions. In this life, he served in 1923-24 as legal adviser and chief of the federal prohibition department in San Francisco. His home is at 3054 Gough street.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Source: Byington, Lewis Francis, “History of
San Francisco 3 Vols”, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.,
Chicago, 1931. Vol. 2 Pages 285-287.
© 2007 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
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