Gloria Echols was 79.
The former executive director of Lansdale’s Community Housing Services, a nonprofit food pantry and underprivileged housing organization that suddenly closed its doors in 2013 after 30 years of helping the community, passed away Friday at the age of 79.
The death of Gloria Lemmon Echols, of Pottstown, formerly of Lansdale and Towamencin, was announced by her daughter, Lauren, and Green-Cooper-Gaskins Funeral Home LLC on Friday.
Community Housing Services closed its doors at 311 N. Broad St. on Feb. 1, 2013. Five years prior, the nonprofit was in dire straits, as the North Penn United Way pulled its funding from the organization.
Under Echols’ leadership, the nonprofit was known for its food pantry and its popular Christmas family adoption program, which provided more than 300 families in the area with holiday gifts annually.
