So sorry to hear about your mom.  I have many pleasant memories of our years on Parkside and Waller.  She was a special friend.  Thanks for taking the time to let me know.  She will always be in my prayers.

Eulogy April 26,2011

We came together today to honor Mom’s life, which I happen to know quite a lot about since Mom and I had daily phone conversations.  The calls started on a weekly Saturday basis in 1991 (20 years ago) when Dad had surgery for colon cancer.  Over the years, the calls became more frequent as Mom and Dad’s medical problems increased, and many times we’d have multiple calls in a single day.  John and I always screen calls so we got to recognize the kind of call by the start of the message.  If it was “Hi Margie and John”, we knew it was a social call.  But if it was “Hi John…and Margie”, we knew Mom or Dad wanted to tell John about a problem and ask him to deal with it, which of course he did.  I learned a lot about Mom’s life through these calls and I’d like to tell you a little bit about some of her 92 years.

When she was 5 years old - in kindergarten - she got scarlet fever and was sent to a Contagious Hospital for quarantine.  For an entire month the only contact she had with her family was by looking out a window and seeing them standing below.  When Mom was discharged, both she and her sister Ernie were held out of school until the following year when they started 1st grade together.   After that year Ernie was promoted back to her own class of 3rd grade while Mom entered 2nd grade.  The sisters had always been close and Mom said she really missed Ernie being in the same class with her.

When Mom was 9 years old, her father died.  It was Christmas Day and he was on his way to work when he was killed in a streetcar accident.  Times were especially hard for the family after that.  The Great Depression began and my Grandma Margaret Stalling lost her job.  Eventually Gram did get a job working in the Palmer House linen room, and the family was lucky to have good neighbors, so with their support, Mom and Ernie were able to be on their own and take care of one another when their mother was at work.  Of course since Ernie was the elder, she was the boss…Mom was never happy with that!

I don’t know how my Gram managed it but both girls were able to continue their Catholic schooling through high school.  One of the highlights of Mom’s years at Immaculata High School was scoring the winning basket at the junior/senior basketball game.  This was when she was a junior and it was a half court shot!  The funny part to me is that Mom always said she was embarrassed by this accomplishment.  She said there was complete silence in the gym afterward, and only her home room nun congratulated her on winning the game!

Another memorable high school moment was Mom inviting her cousin Harold Fleming to take her to her prom.  Shortly before the date of the prom Harold sent Mom a telegram saying that he couldn’t take her to the prom - he had to go fishing with his father!  When Mom told me this story, I asked her if they had a telephone in their apartment, thinking that was the reason for a telegram.  Yes, they did, she said!

After high school graduation, Mom went to work for the Gas Company…the same “famous” gas company where Dad, his brothers, sister and their father worked.  Mom said when she first saw Dad it was love at first sight.  He came into the dept. where Mom worked and she always said he looked right at her, said he was so handsome, but they hadn’t been introduced yet.  However, Mom had a co-worker, named Ruth, who knew the Gallaghers, so the two young women decided to go to a boxing match sponsored by the Gas Company because Ruth knew Barney and his brother James were going to be there and Ruth could make the introductions.  When the women saw the men at the match, they followed them into the bar and thus Mom was introduced to Dad.  I love the fact that he accompanied her home that night even though Mom said it was out of his  way.

And that was the beginning of their life together.  In 1938.  Mom was 19; Dad 25.  They married 6 years later while Dad was on furlough from the Army.  It was a small wedding, with Ernie as maid of honor, and Dad’s brother John as best man.  Dad’s father, whom everyone called Pa, walked Mom down the aisle.  After the Mass and reception, Mom and Dad took a streetcar, with their suitcases, to downtown Chicago for their honeymoon.   Then Dad returned to duty in San Francisco where he was transferred from the Army IBM Records Unit there to the new unit in Seattle, Washington.  Two months later Mom was able to join him, traveling alone by train from Chicago.  Even though the War was still on, they were happy to be together, had many friends, and greeted their first child in May of 1945 (Margie).
    
After the War ended and Dad was discharged, the family returned to Chicago, moving into Gram’s one bedroom apartment with Gram and Ernie while waiting for an opening in the Army Veterans projects.  Gram and Ernie gave up their bedroom to Mom and Dad and me, while they slept on a davenport in the living room.  About a year later there was an opening in the projects and we moved there.  When my brother Mike was born, Gram and Ernie took care of me while Mom was in the hospital.  They told the story of Ernie making toast for me.  When it was placed in front of me, I told Aunt Ernie that it wasn’t done how my Mommy made it.  “Oh, how does your Mommy make it?”  she said.   I said, “She scrapes it over the sink first.”  I guess the toast got burned a lot but Mom always insisted it was the toaster’s fault!  When I was 6 years old our family moved to Pa Gallagher’s house where we were given the main floor of his 3 story family home.  My brother Mike and I went to the same Catholic grade school where Dad and his siblings went.  Then in July of 1954 my sister Kathy was born and soon thereafter my Gram Stalling came to live with us, necessitating a move to our family’s first house.  Gram lived with us for 12 years, up until her death.  As a kid, having multi-generations in one house seemed normal to me.  I didn’t realize at the time how difficult it was to care for children and an elderly parent, but it was also a huge blessing.

When Dad retired from the Gas Company he and Mom moved to Sun City Arizona.  During the next 15 years they had fun - visiting and playing cards with neighbors, playing host to visiting family, taking them to see the Grand Canyon and Lake Powell.  Mom had fun taking classes in ceramics, aqua-aerobics, exercises, and dance.  Dad thoroughly enjoyed being in the volunteer posse, flashing his badge at every opportunity!  They went on tours to Ireland, the Canadian Rockies, and Hawaii while there.  They made many friends and enjoyed their retirement until Dad was diagnosed with colon cancer.  Then, after his surgery and recovery, they decided to return to Chicago, and they moved into a condo in Bartlett IL.

10 years later Dad’s health had declined to the point where they decided to move into an assisted living apartment.  Still, they were together and made friends in their new environment.  But Dad’s health continued to worsen with Parkinson’s Disease, and then he fell and broke his hip.  While he was finally able to return to Belmont Village, the Parkinson’s continued to take its toll and Dad died on January 4, 2006.

Mom struggled to go on alone after Dad’s death, and finally, in September of 2007 she agreed to move to TX.  My family was so excited when we put down a deposit on an assisted living facility near us but it was not to be.  Two days later Mom fell, broke her hip and had partial hip replacement surgery.  I never thought she would be able to return to Belmont Village but she did. And in May of 2009 she had successful cataract surgery.  But her enjoyment in life was severely hampered by her loss of hearing, and strength.  She never had a day when she didn’t miss Dad.  Earlier this year Mom told me she was ready to die and she wasn’t afraid.  She asked me who I thought would be waiting for her when she died.  I asked her who did she think would be there, and she said either Dad, or her Mom and Ernie.  I said maybe all of them would be there.  Mom really liked that.  In fact she told me she had lots of happy dreams after that about being with Dad.  Said she hated to wake up.

I’ll always be glad we got to spend so much time together.  I’ll always miss her.  But I’m glad she and Dad are together again.  Both of them would now say, “Finis fabuli” (end of the story).

I will miss you singing happy birthday via a "western union" phone call.  I will never forget your thoughtfulness. I will strive to make others feel special because that is how you always made me feel.  Thank you for the lesson.

OBITUARY

Mrs. Virginia I. Gallagher

January 30, 1919 – April 18, 2011

Blake-Lamb Funeral Home

Show your support

Add a Memory

Share Obituary

Get Reminders

Services