Larry Dean Gallagher

Larry Dean Gallagher was born to Dervie & Eva Gallagher on Oct. 14th, 1934 in French Camp, CA. He was a normal rambunctious little guy. His mom combed his hair too neatly before school so that he could mess it up before arriving. He had a dog, “Brownie”, so he always loved and teased dogs. He had another dog, a terrier, named “Zorchie”. He had all the comforts of wonderful parents and home plus a swimming pool to jump into from the roof.

He began water skiing with his dad driving the boat. He was second man in the world to bare-foot ski at the age of fourteen…traveling across America & winning many awards; US Water Ski Champion- Lake Placid New York, 1951 Pacific Coast Trick Champion, and Donner Lake Open Champion 1953 in Senior Men’s Division.

Joining the navy with some friends – one friend ended up a pilot, one a doctor, and Larry ended up on a ship named LST: USS Saline County LST 1101 – You Call We Haul. His parents sent him a picture of Gail (she lived down the street” so he sent her a letter saying “Wow, how she’d grown”…since before she was the brat down the street.

After leaving the navy, he went to Menlo College & then joined the family business, Speedometer Electric.

Larry & Gail were married on April 20, 1958. Don Smith was the best man, and Gail’s sister, Jean, was the maid of honor. Larry was an only child and Don was his lifelong brother.

Larry’s cousin, Sharon Robinson, was like a sister to Larry, and they were truly like feisty kids. When Sharon got married and had her beautiful daughter, she called Larry & Gail to ask permission to name their daughter Lori – we were so honored and are happy to have them here today.

Larry & Gail settled into married life, having their son Kelly in January of 1959 and baby daughter Lori in June of 1960. Don came by to teach Kelly how to swim in the pool down the street. Larry had his four year old daughter skiing before she could even swim. She was a Gallagher so water ski she did. We were all skiers.

Don came back from his service in the army and continued his education at UOP. He would bring a few dates by for a “yay or ney” approval. When he brought tiny Lila, we said “way to go!” They did a little smooching so we played blackmail with them. Finally, after Don and Lila married we finally gave away our cute picture of the “couch smoochers”. Later, they had their son Doug and their daughter Melinda.

One August 1, 1964, Larry, Gail, Kelly & Lori welcomed a son, Patrick Brian Gallagher. Shortly thereafter they moved to a special town called Lodi. Larry & Gail had played golf in Stockton and continued to play in Lodi with lots of friends. We had fun playing at Pebble Beach, Spy Glass, Silverado, etc. A couple named Fran & Dick Burkes were also lifelong friends. During vacations Dick & Larry took off to play golf while Fran and Gail went to Fran’s parents’ ranch in the Redwood Valley to enjoy cabin living – reading books, horseback riding. One trip, we were taking a jeep down to the meadow with the headlights out and all of a sudden turned on a spotlight and discovered we were surrounded by deer. At the ranch, there was an old fashioned cider press with the caution “not to drink too much cider”. Fran’s mom made the Best apple pies and her dad made the best waffles. There was a pond on the property and Kelly heard a croak and looked down and picked up a water snake and plucked a frog to freedom. So many memories!

Back to the home front, on February 20, 1973, Amy Lee arrived – what a joy! So, while Amy was feeding on bottles and baby food, her older brothers and sister were throwing walnuts at one another – those hurt! They were in Camp Fire Girls and Boy Scouts, and there were lots of dogs. It’s a wonder how quickly your children grow. To make it shorter – they all had good educations! Little Amy received a scholarship for tennis that she earned through many Jr. Tournaments. The older 3 were in many swim meets. You have to keep your children productive – hopefully by keeping too busy for trouble – was our parenting motto with lots of love for sure.

#1 son, Kelly fell in love with Diane Barry and married and they have two loveable and talented daughters, Kelsey and Megan. Kelly manages 75 parks in the City of Modesto. Their daughter, Kelsey graduated from Fresno State in Food Science and is currently a wedding planner, in Sacramento at Wedgewood. Their youngest, Megan, graduated from Stanislaus State and is attending UOP for her Masters and Teaching credential. She is currently doing her student teaching – those lucky kids!

#2 daughter, Lori was a good friend of Diane Barry at the University at Davis. Lori was at UOP rooming with 2 girls while she was going for her Masters and along came Brian Riley to a blind date. The blind date wasn’t too successful. Brian wisely asked Lori out and the rest is history! They have not 1, not 2, not 3 not 4, but 5 children and so many absolutely fabulous grandchildren. #1 Katelynn (Katie to all) went to Stanford on a scholarship – shoes fleet of foot on the soccer field. She met her husband to be in Arizona while furthering her education. She is now married living and working from their new home in San Diego and not least are expecting a baby. So exciting! #2 Their son Beau strived mightily for his education and thoroughly succeeded. He married his love, Kaci and have 3 children; 2 boys, Landon & Brady, very handsome too, and a baby daughter, Regan. Beau is a SWAT officer and we’re so proud of him. Blessed are the peacemakers! #3. Brett met his wife to be at 16 at a bowling alley – this family loves sports! Shortly thereafter they began dating in high school. Sierra moved to Pasedena and Brett Continued school in Nevada, after several years apart and communicating and visits they finally got engaged and married. They live at Lake Arrowhead with their sweet little 3 year old snowboarding daughter, Zoe. Bret works at 24 hour Fitness as a manager and Sierra works for Pendleton. And Zoe is their supervisor. #4 Christian is at San Diego State majoring in accounting and graduating in May. And Papa and I think he’s personality plus! #5 Brooke is currently at Northwestern University on a golf scholarship so she is definitely prepared for Texas cold weather. Papa faithfully followed her matches on the computer, promptly and excitingly vocalizing her birdies, pars and a few bogies plus her ranking.

#3 son Patrick Brian, Gail and Larry’s second son, is very bright and very loved even though he’s live far away in Utah for many years. He went to Davis in California and then to Brigham Young in Utah. He has 3 children, Chadwick (Chad) who married Jen & have an adorable daughter, Elliot. Chad works as a software engineer. Jen works at the Utah Valley University as an editor. And Elliot is already in first grade. Son #2, Chase, is studying at M Tech and he’s a huge handsome hunk. #3, And then there is Chloe, alias “Clio” by Papa. She works as an esthetician and wears a lab coat. SO ladies, if you want facials, waxing, lazar hair removal, eye lashes, etc., see Chloe. And with Papa’s permission you may call her Clio, but Gigi says if you want to be on her good side, you may say hello Chloe!

Patrick met Laura in 2014 and dated for 2 years. They had a beautiful wedding in July 16, 2015. Life is Great! Patrick works at International Healthcare in Hospital administration. Laura is a Jr. High guidance counselor and we all love her dearly. We were happy to welcome her three beautiful daughters to our family as well. Tara is in her second year of college at BYU-Idaho. She loves reading, movies and popcorn. Hannah is graduating from high school this year and plans to attend Utah State University this fall. Andrea is in seventh grade and enjoys clogging, playing the piano and violin.

#4, Amy as a baby, journeyed to many swim meets. Dad had been to so many swim meets and introduced Amy to tennis. She loved it and with lit courts, covered with crickets –she played on. She was #1 in Norther Ca through the 18’s. She was recruited by Fresno State and even UOP, but that was too close to home. She accepted Fresno State. She met John Barrington who was from Ukiah which was close to the Redwood Valley where our close friends, the Burkes live. For some reason he turned down for UCLA and accepted a golf scholarship for golf at Fresno. Larry and Gail always say God works in mysterious ways! John came to Lodi for dinner with us to ask our permission to marry Amy! We were extremely impressed and so happy for Amy. Gail has to admit she called Amy for info about them – undoubtedly a pest! They were married in Fresno right after their graduation. John continued his education and went to medical school at UC Davis while Amy gave tennis lessons. They had Andrew James on Sept 27, 1997. Gail and her mom visited one day and were sitting on the couch with A.J. and Amy had another visitor who sat by Mimi June – A.J. went and hugged Mimi and told the visitor “Mine”! Mimi June always remembered and loved the memory! #2, Cassidy Rae, Papa’s Princess, was born on Oct 3, 1999. The family moved to a sweet 2 story home in North Carolina as John completed his residency at University of North Carolina. Amy was a homemaker and taught, you guessed it, tennis lessons. The biggest highlight was #3, Brock Michael, born on Sept 15th, 2003. North Carolina, Yeah! Then they proceeded to Boston to an apartment up high, where John did a fellowship at Mass General for orthopedics. Papa and Gail (called Gigi) visited and had a wonderful time trouping through the snow to take the kids to school, going on tours and watching A.J. crawl up doorways – no kidding! John and Amy diligently studied places to live and decided on Plano, Texas. John joined Texas Center for Joint replacement. In 2014, they moved from Plano to Frisco about a 10 minute drive. You all guessed it, Amy still teaches tennis and John is so busy that I can’t relate.

The Barrington grandchildren, A.J. was Papa’s special pal and he brought sheer joy in who was top dog – it was Papa’s favorite. They would go out to lunch and had many laughs for sure. A.J. goes to Harding University in Arkansas and is studying Engineering. A.J. is an excellent tennis player! Cassidy attends Texas A&M and is in her freshman year. She always got the best of Papa in their joking, but Papa still kept trying! Brock somehow found time to draw a picture of Papa – entitled Lar – Papa loved it and said it looked just like him especially the spiked hair. Brock is a super student and athlete and enjoys hunting with his dad.

That completes our family and some of our lifelong friends. Papa was truly blessed to have shared his life with all of you, some that you didn’t have a choice (Papas humor). But every one of you has enriched our lives. God bless you all and have happy memories. Papa wouldn’t want it any other way! And Gigi thanks every one of you for sharing and coming.