Gloria (Schroeder) Gallagher
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution announces with great sorrow the death of retiree Gloria (Schroeder) Gallagher on November 30, in Falmouth. She was 91.
Gloria was born in 1919 in Staten Island, New York. As a child she lived in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia before coming to Massachusetts where she attended schools in Cambridge, Watertown, and Newton. She graduated from Newton High School in 1937 and also graduated from the Academic Moderne in Boston.
Gloria began working at WHOI in1945 as a Junior Technician. In 1953, she became a Multilith Machine Operator and in 1974 a Lab Assistant II doing data processing. She retired in 1977.
Gloria was a third generation employee. Her grandfather, William Schroeder, known to all as “Pop,” was Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds and her father, William C. Schroeder was the Business Manager for the first twenty years of the WHOI’s history, as well as author of many scientific books, including “Fishes of the Gulf of Maine” co-authored with Dr. Henry B. Bigelow.
She married William F. Gallagher, a fellow employee, in 1951. They both retired in 1977 after 32 years of service. Although they both started working in Woods Hole in 1945, it was several years before they met, both as members of the “Tri-Sail Chorus.” Gloria often flew with her pilot husband in their own plane. Over the years she and her husband built and operated Falmouth Airport, which was sold in 1985 and also ran a small boat rental business on Falmouth Harbor. She was a skilled sailor and a fine seamstress and fashioned her own wardrobe. She was an enthusiastic animal rights supporter. Both she and her husband frequently rescued injured birds near their home on the harbor.
Gloria is survived by a grandson Kevin Clark of Brockton, MA, and a great grandson Scott Clark. A son, C.W. Herbert Clark died in September of 1990.
Memorial gifts may be made to the Falmouth Hospital or Friends of Falmouth Dogs, P.O. Box 438, Falmouth, MA 02541.
A memorial service will be held at a later date.
Some of the information for this obituary was taken from the Cape Cod Times.