Richard Alan Hallahan & Anne Juliette Gu

Richard Alan Hallahan, born June 11, 1937, passed away on March 29, 2025 in Redondo Beach, California. He was 87. He is survived by his twin sister Janet Burke of Boca Raton, Florida, and extended family and loved ones.

Richard was a graduate of Valley Stream High School in Valley Stream, New York, in 1955, where he was a class Valedictorian, and a member of the National Honor Society. He attended Yale University on a Navy Scholarship where he completed his Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. He then served his country in the United States Navy. He became a jet fighter pilot, where he fell in love with flying. Subsequently, Richard devoted 30 years of his life working as a pilot for American Airlines, with the last 10 years as Captain.

Richard was a brilliant man with a colorful life and many accomplishments. He loved race cars, horses, reading, and sports, just to name a few. His passion for street racing led him to achieve an AHRA World Drag Racing Record in his 1966 Mustang “Buckaroo.” He maintained a full service garage where he built cars and did all kinds of repairs, even appliances that malfunctioned.

Richard read widely. He was well versed in technology and read every computer manual cover to cover. He would write copious notes in the margins with his customary red pen. He was also a talented pianist who delighted and awed his audiences with his impromptu jazz playing. He always enjoyed good theater and going to the movies.

He was a huge animal lover. He owned and raised a horse named “Fergie.” Fergie went on to win several championships in horse racing. He found many stray animals, nursed them back to health and provided a good home for them. He always made sure to leave treats and clean water in his yard for wild visitors. A family of mother and baby skunks were among the animals sighted. He became very well known as the “Birdman” at the Manhattan Beach Pier while feeding pigeons everyday for many years, and was photographed by the local Daily Breeze newspaper for their headline article. He loved the ocean and lived near the Californian coast most of his life.

He was a devout patriot with a deep love of God and country.

Richard was predeceased in life by William Hallahan Jr. (brother), Anna (Tiritter) Hallahan (mother), William John Hallahan (father), and Anne Juliette Gu (beloved partner).



Anne Juliette Gu, born December 18, 1940 in Taiwan, passed away on August 14, 2023 in Harbor City, California. She was 82. She is survived by her three children (and their spouses), four grand children, two brothers and three sisters.

Anne was the third among seven children, and the second eldest daughter. Her father was a carpenter, and her mother was a homemaker who grew vegetables, raised livestock and took care of the children. She was the perfect helping hand for her mother, and took much pride in assisting with hours of chores each day.

Anne had a keen, inquisitive mind since youth. Nurtured by highly educated neighbors around her, she developed her lifelong love of knowledge and peerless work ethic. Even though her parents had little education, Anne excelled at school and was ranked at the top of her class each year. During an era when most girls did not attend beyond elementary school, she dreamed of attending university.

With financial support and encouragement from teachers who saw great potential in her, Anne attended Taipei Girls Teachers School. As a prolific writer, she won first place in writing during her college entrance exam. Upon graduation from Taiwan Tainan Teachers College, she taught grade school and then high school. During the weekends and holidays, she joined the mountain climbing club, and scaled difficult rocky climbs and long hikes, where she built strength and stamina that impressed even her peers, given her petite stature.

In the mid-1970’s, Anne, along with her husband and children, immigrated to the United States, where she worked for her uncle in the motel business. She worked extremely hard and long hours every day, and eventually saved enough to buy and run her own motel in Inglewood, California. In 1980, prior to meeting Richard, she bought a house in Redondo Beach, mere blocks from the Pacific Ocean. The clear ocean air cured her of hay fever, an affliction she long suffered.

Following her retirement from hotel and motel management in 1989, Anne worked in the financial services industry as a loan representative, and obtained her real estate broker license. She set up her loan office across the street from the John Wayne Airport in Orange County, not far from where she and Richard lived in Irvine. Later, she earned her Series 7 license and became a stock broker.

At the ripe young age of 59, Anne earned her Bachelor’s Degree from UC Berkeley in the year 2000, achieving her lifelong dream. She loved learning and approached her subjects with the rigor of a serious academic. She continued taking classes in various areas of interest throughout her life, such as writing, reading Shakespeare, even Construction, to name a few. Being an entrepreneur for many years, she loved being her own boss with day trading, which she did every day till the end of her days.

She also enjoyed tending to her plants and flowers, especially roses. She created an utterly beautiful and luscious garden at her home, which won rave reviews from all her neighbors and passers-by. She was presented with an outstanding landscaping award from her beach community.

She sang opera beautifully and had a full range soprano voice that was likened to a song bird. She wrote poems and short stories, both in English and Chinese, many dedicated to Richard. Some of her writings were published in the World Journal, a well-known Chinese newspaper.

When she could no longer get around on her own, Anne found joy and freedom in spending time with Richard. The two of them enjoyed the salt air and crashing waves at the ocean, the call of seagulls passing overhead, the sun on the horizon, and him pushing her in her wheelchair on the Redondo Beach Strand.

Anne was predeceased in life by Hsian Sheng Gu (father), Hsiu Mei Liao (mother), Niki Gu (sister) and Michael Joseph Haley (grandson).

A Memorial Service will be held at the Pacific View Memorial Park in Corona Del Mar, California on Friday, May 16, 2025 at 2:00PM in honor of lifelong partners, Richard and Anne.