Nationwide — Gloria Wilson, a 94-year-old African American retired teacher from Los Angeles, California, has lost her pension after being falsely declared dead by the California State Teachers Retirement System. The error left her and her family shocked and struggling to manage bills.
For over 40 years, Gloria taught in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Now living in Texas, she relies on her CalSTRS pension. One month, her payment never arrived, and she discovered that the retirement system had listed her as deceased, according to ABC 7.
Her daughter, Melva Williams, said the family was stunned when they received a letter stating her mother’s benefits were terminated because she was supposedly dead.
“I was really upset. It disturbed me, and I couldn’t imagine anybody saying that I was deceased when I wasn’t deceased,” Gloria said. She worried about her bills, which are automatically deducted from her pension, and missing payments created immediate problems.
Williams contacted the pension office and sent proof that her mother was alive. The family submitted letters signed by both Gloria and her doctor, but the documents were rejected twice over small technicalities. Williams said the office “wanted names printed differently than we did,” which delayed the process for weeks.
After weeks of frustration, the family learned the issue affected other retirees who had moved out of California. A new system had flagged them incorrectly, declaring some dead or ineligible for payments.
CalSTRS, however, denied any system error. Spokesperson Thomas Lawrence said benefit verification is routine for security and fraud prevention. “If a member does ever have a payment delayed, we work as quickly as possible to reissue the payment,” he added.
There was finally relief when CalSTRS confirmed late Friday that Gloria’s situation was resolved and her payments would resume early next week. Wilson said she had never experienced a disruption like this in decades of retirement and hopes sharing her story will encourage other retirees to check their accounts carefully.