Katharine Clare Gallagher

Katharine Clare Gallagher March 23, 1920-May 12, 2016 Katharine Clare Young Gallagher peacefully left us for her heavenly home on May 12, 2016. She was 96 years old. At 6 years of age she was placed in Nazareth Orphanage in Raleigh, North Carolina after her father’s untimely death. She and her brothers: David, James Edward and Rogers were reunited with their mother the year she began attending Gesu High School in Miami, Florida. She received her RN from St. Vincent’s Hospital School of Nursing in Jacksonville Florida and served in the US Navy during World War II as a Navy Nurse. At the end of the War, Katharine married Joseph Gallagher and raised four children: Catherine, Roger, Joseph and Patricia in Miami, Florida. She taught her children the values of unconditional love, inner strength and most of all, a love of laughter. Her Irish wit and humor will always be treasured. A few years after her husband Joseph passed away, Katharine married an old friend, Jack Wood, and lived in Crane Hill, Alabama and then Lake City, Florida. After Jack passed away, she moved back to Miami and eventually met and married Andy Hightower. In 1996 she moved to Orlando, Florida where she lived until a tree fell on her home during Hurricane Charlie in 2004. Katharine then moved to Panama City, FL where she lived until 2008 when she started to show signs of dementia. She then spent time at each of her children’s homes until January 2012 when she became a resident of Palm Cottages in Rockledge, FL. She was affectionally known by friends and family as Pooh or Grandma Pooh. As her son Joe always points out, “Mom never met a stranger.” She was always ready for anything, and there was little she would hesitate to participate in including: dancing, hiking, bowling, cycling, traveling, gardening, house painting, cards, especially “Kings in a Corner” and “Skipbo’, jet skiing and even cooking with lots of encouragement. Katharine was proud of her service as a World War II Navy Nurse and she was proud of all the years she worked as an Operating Room Nurse at Jackson Memorial and Kendall Hospitals in Miami. But she was especially proud of being the parent of four children whom she raised as a divorced single parent. A Memorial Mass will take place at Sacred Heart Church in Salisbury, NC on July 16, 2016 at 11:00 AM and her remains will be interned along with those of her mother, father and brother at Chestnut Hill Cemetery at 12:00 Noon A Celebration of life will follow .To paraphrase St. Paul: Katharine fought a good fight, she finished the race, she kept the faith. Arrangements by FAMILY owned and operated Atlantic Mortuary & Cremation Service, Rockledge.