Mamie Rosiland Gallahan

Mamie Rosiland (Roz) Holmes Gallahan (85) passed away peacefully Wednesday morning, March 9th, 2023 while in hospice care at Manassas Health and Rehabilitation. Her daughter Sandy Wright and son-in-law Richard Wright were at her side constantly through her last days. Roz was cared for in her last five years by the staff at Manassas Health and Rehabilitation with great care and professionalism. Manassas Health and Rehab provided an exceptional level of care – a level of care Roz had learned to understand and appreciate after 35 years of caring for her paraplegic daughter, Pam Smith. Roz, born in Alabama in 1936, was an intelligent, athletic, and artistic young woman. She excelled at academics, was a force on the high school basketball team, and performed musically at church on piano and vocals. One of our favorite family stories shares the time when Roz wanted to learn gospel chording on the piano. She bargained with her father to pay for her gospel piano lessons if she could clear a hectare of corn from their Alabama family farm. He agreed, and she talked her siblings into clearing it with her in a day. She was intelligent, resourceful, and persuasive throughout her life. Roz was driven to leave Alabama as a young woman. She moved to Washington DC immediately after high school, then enrolled and graduated from a Bible College. She was hired by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as an assistant. She has a signed document from J. Edgar Hoover thanking her for her contributions to the United States. Roz met, was courted by, and married James C. (Jim or JC) Gallahan in 1957. His brothers told us that she was the most beautiful woman they had ever met. She was intelligent, caring, and enchanting. Roz and Jim moved to the Manassas suburbs in 1958 and had three daughters, Sandy, Gayl and Pam. Pam -their third daughter - was born with an inoperable tumor on her spine leading to partial quadriplegia. Without health insurance, Roz and Jim had many years of struggle. Roz washed diapers, cared for the hospital oxygen tents at the house, and drove to healthcare appointments – while Jim worked to pay the bills. It was a time when people did not ask for help and when you just did what you had to do. Roz was a source of strength and was devoted to her family. Roz even drove one of Jim’s dump trucks when he needed help. Roz loved to tell the story of being pulled over by a policeman because her truck was overloaded. She managed to talk the policeman into letting her shovel off the excess rock while he waited! Roz loved music throughout her life and continued to play the piano, even teaching piano for some time. She planted and cared for beautiful gardens at her home. She “put up” countless jars of home-grown vegetables which became a cornerstone of the family nutrition. She cooked the best fried chicken and apple pie in Virginia! She loved the outdoors, biking, and camping. She bought a 24’ camper, attached it to the family truck, and took her girls camping frequently – on her own. She was a devoted mother. Roz was an early and influential champion for the rights of disabled individuals in the 1960’s. She fought for her daughter, Pam, to attend regular schools in the school district – and she won. She had to become a school driver to make that happen – fighting for a van, and then becoming the driver. She had to fight for ramps for disabled access to school. She had to fight for a bathroom equipped to change diapers at the school – and she drove every day to change diapers! For a historical perspective, a great movie is Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution, on Netflix. As time went on, Roz had episodes when she suffered mentally. Today, she would find ready medication and support to bring her forward. Unfortunately, back then, she had to hide her struggles – and she suffered. She managed, she worked hard, she helped raise her grandchildren, she worked nights at 7-11 for many years, and she was strong. And at times, she suffered mental dysregulation. This was hard for her and for those that loved her. Roz is survived by her daughters, sons-in-law, and their families: Sandy and Richard Wright and family, and Gayl and Tom Loutzenheiser and family. Roz was a daily force for Jennie Strunk and Frankie Smith, Pam Gallahan Smith’s children. She is survived by a total of eight grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Roz is also survived by her sister, Regina Holmes. Roz’s husband Jim, her third daughter Pamela Smith, and her dear sister Glenda Neal preceded her in death. In the spirit of finding cures for mental illness, Roz’s brain has been donated to the Harvard Brain Bank, a program that seeks to understand and find solutions for mental illness. A gathering to celebrate Mamie Rosiland Gallahan will be held Friday, March 17th, from 4-7 at Pierce Funeral Home, Manassas, VA . A brief graveside gathering will be held at noon on Saturday, March 18th at Hillsboro Cemetery, Purcellville, VA. In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to Harvard Brain Tissue Research Center, McLean Hospital, Mailstop 138, 115 Mill Street, Belmont, MA 02478. Secure online gift: https://giving.mclean.org/mclean-brain-bank/

Mamie Rosiland Gallahan

April 24, 1936 - March 9, 2023