Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Grandma Sally

There is so much I want to say about Grandma Sally.... She was a remarkable woman. The family patriarch who brought everyone together. She was most happiest when we were all gathered at the Lake for the weekend. When it was time to say goodbye, she always made me promise to come back and visit her.

She loved to bake and always made her pies from scratch. Too bad I'm not a pie eater so I didn't appreciate them as much. She once told me I wasn't a Gallogly if I didn't like pie. My love of her red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting more than made up for it though. She also made an excellent carrot cake and german chocolate cake. We all enjoyed her fried chicken, sicilian meat roll, and "red meat". She would grow rhubarb and I would sneak bites of it when she was cutting it up for her rhubarb crunch.

I remember when I was 3 and Indiana was in the midst of a huge snow storm. (The Blizzard of '78!) Schools were cancelled and businesses were closing. I has at her house and my dad came to pick me up. I asked if I could stay with her instead. She said I could but I had to go potty in the toilet like a big girl. I decided this was a good enough reason to stop wearing diapers.

I'm one of the few cousins that remembers her house on Standish Drive. She had plum tree there and I loved to eat the fruit from that tree. When staying with her, I would sneak and eat marshmallows from the baking shelf. The house had some cabinets in the upstairs hallway that stored some of the toys leftover from when my aunts and uncles where growing up. I spent hours playing with them. Her basement also stored many things. I remember finding a wheelchair there and my brother and I took turns pushing each other in it. One time, my dad took me on a motorcycle ride to her house from our house in Auburn. She was not happy about that and was very worried that I would fall off.

She always gave us the best Easter baskets. I could always count on a big chocolate bunny from her.

In recent years, we loved convincing her to go on pontoon rides at dusk. It often took several requests from many of us. Sometimes she would go with us, sometimes she stayed home. But she always drank scotch with everyone (except me, I can't seem to enjoy scotch).

She always bought things that were built to last, usually from Sears where she had a lifetime 10% discount because she retired from there.

She had high standards and was the queen of her domain. It took me several years to appreciate that about her but I'm so thankful I did. She was a wonderful great grandmother to my kids.

Her funeral was yesterday and woo boy was it tough. We had a nice Catholic mass in the new Angola church that she was very proud of. I didn't expect my tears to flow so quick and heavy. I had to hold back my sobs. I wasn't the only one, most of the family was crying. Even Seeger who I think finally understood that it was our last physical goodbye to her.

She will live in our memories and stories.


MARCELLA (SALLY) T. LANGHALS GALLOGLY, passed away April 1, 2011, at her home at Lake George, Fremont, Ind. She was born on Oct. 1, 1921, in Clover dale, Ohio to Joseph and Emma (Becker) Langhals. In 1939 she moved from Cloverdale, Ohio, where she was raised, to Fort Wayne. She was employed by Lincoln Life Insurance Company until she married Robert Arthur Gallogly on Sept. 28, 1943. During war time, she followed him to Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., and then Fort Sill, Okla. until Mr. Gallogly was mobilized for the European Theater of Operation. After World War II, they resided on Standish Drive in Fort Wayne for 34 years. In 1984, they moved to Lake George, Fremont, until her death.

She was an active member of the St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church of Angola, and its Rosary Sodality and also the Prayer Shawl Ministry. She is survived by two daughters, Carolyn (Robert) Bright of Bayport, N.Y. and Kathleen (John) Ranshaw of Wilmette, Ill.; three sons, Robert (Laurie) Gallogly of Angola, James (Lorna) Gallogly of Novi, Mich. and William Gallogly of Spencer, Ind.; 10 grandchildren, Jon Gallogly, Natalie (Michael) Kubat, Michael Gallogly, Jake Gallogly, Ryan (Bri) Gallogly, Aaron Gallogly, Andrew Bright, Molly Bright, Emily Ranshaw, and Elizabeth Ranshaw; two great-grandchildren, Nicklas and Seeger Kubat; sister, Solina Kramer of Dearborn, Mich. She was was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Robert and her five other siblings.

Funeral Mass is 10 a.m. Tuesday, April 5, 2011, at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church, Angola, with Father Bernie Zajdel officiating. Visitation is from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. Monday, April 4, 2011, with a prayer service at 7:30 p.m. on Monday at the Weicht Funeral Home, Angola. Burial is 2 p.m. Tuesday, April 5, 2011, in the Catholic Cemetery, Fort Wayne. Memorials may be made to St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church, 700 W. Maumee St., Angola, Indiana 46703. You may sign the guestbook at www.weichtfh.com

ARRANGEMENTS HANDLED BY THE WEICHT FUNERAL HOME, ANGOLA, INDIANA Published in Fort Wayne Newspapers on April 3, 2011.

3 comments:

Kubatski said...

I am so thankful that I got to spend the time that I did with Grandma Sally. I loved to watch her interact with the kids. She would read with them, but also have them read to her.

Yesterday was a very hard day. I have a hard time watching my wife or my children struggle with anything. Yesterday, I had to do both.

My favorite memories of Grandma:

1. She always invited you back to the lake. I mean gave you a real verbal invitation to return. When you left she gave you a big hug, a kiss, and made sure she knew when you would be back next. It was almost like she thought that if she didn't extend an invitation you might not come back. We always came back, but she made sure of it.

2. She was her worst critic and she hated to have people do stuff for her. She thought she should do the cooking AND the cleaning. It took several years before we started to convince her to let the rest of us help out.
She always criticized her own cooking. She always thought things were too dry or too done or too dirty, but they were always perfect.

3. I will always remember drinking scotch on the pontoon and her wearing Jim's hat and getting hat head.

We love you Grandma...and don't worry. The polack family will be at the lake for Memorial Day.

Christy said...

What a nice tribute to your grandma. She sounds like she was a wonderful woman. I'm thinking of you and your family.

Emily R said...

I just found your post Nat - so nice to read your memories! Thanks for sharing. Inspires me to put mine down on paper (or html??) too.