Kathryn Gallagher Golden

Kathryn Gallagher Golden, age 82, of Jupiter, Florida passed away on Saturday, October 26, 2024. She was born in Williamsburg, VA on December 8, 1941; the daughter of the late Richard and June Gallagher.

Kay always loved a good story… telling, listening, reading, and writing. And, in the South Florida home she loved, surrounded by family, on her terms, she completed her own 82 year opus. At an early age, Kay developed her talent for spinning tales and quickly befriending those around her. Her father’s career as a professional football coach resulted in the family relocating across at least half a dozen states, some more than once. As she put it, she had to make new friends at each stop along the way, so she had plenty of practice. Time on the road as well as with with extended family in Ironton, Ohio, provided incredible storylines. Kay was a sponge who channeled the countless colorful characters she’d encountered as she took to the stage in high school and college, often as the leading role.

Speaking of colorful characters… Wow, did she ever pick one in John Golden. “Johnny G” as he was known and loved by so many, contributed to the next 58 years of this story with an endless supply of plot twists, classic quotes, conflicts, life lessons, humor… so much humor… and—certainly what he would say about himself—romance. As she would fondly say, “he’s a pain in the ass, but he’s my pain in the ass.” There have possibly never been two people as fun loving, deeply caring, and hilariously suited for each other as Johnny G. and his Kay. All in the first few years of marriage, and as Johnny G put it, “without a pot to piss in” financially, Kay not only gave birth to her first two children but also took in and helped raise John’s youngest siblings. She simply stepped up and made it work. She would continue in her matter-of-fact way to make it all work for decades to come in Newton, MA, raising those same two plus a third child and a few dogs, working part-time, teaching CCD and Pre Cana, building a summer home and new friendships on Cape Cod, and then again building a life and deep friendships in Tequesta, FL.

Kay was a loving mother, but she also laid down the law. As teenagers, her children each learned of her writing skills upon receipt of handwritten missives that hit their mark every time. Often opening with something like, “You insolent little brat,” she was never wrong, we knew it, and we course corrected. As Johnny G put it, Kay was “tough as nails.” She knew who she was, we all knew where we stood with her, and she had no problem “telling it like it is” from her perspective.

Kay was renamed “Ohnie” by her oldest grandchild Jack sometime around 1995. She embraced the name and the role, and some years later she refused to let even a most brutal esophageal cancer keep her from seeing all seven of her grandchildren grow up. This last period of Kay and John’s life together was undoubtedly the most rewarding of all. They were full of faith and gratitude for a life well lived, for loving family and friends, and for all the ways they had been blessed. They had held each other for better or for worse, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, but the “till death do we part” piece didn’t quite work for those two. For them, it was more like, “til death do we take a 9-month hiatus.” And that’s exactly what Kay did.

She is survived by her sister, Patricia Gallagher; her children, John R. Golden (Mary Beth), Megan Hobson (Richard) and Clare Golla (Adam) and her grandchildren, John (Jack) Golden, Brendan Golden, Kevin Golden, Clare Hobson, Mary Hobson, Kathryn (Katie) Golla, Deirdre (Deedee) Golla.

Recently preceded in death by her husband of 58 years, John F. Golden.

A Memorial Mass will be held on Saturday, November 16, 2024 at 10:00 am at St. Jude Catholic Church, 204 US-1, Tequesta FL. A gathering will be held afterwards at the Sandpointe Bay Clubhouse, 19800 Sandpointe Bay Drive, Tequesta FL.