James “Jim” Gallagher, 80, Allouez resident, passed away peacefully holding the hand of his son on Saturday, December 26, 2020, after a short stay at Bellin hospital. Jim was born July 11, 1940, to the late Captain Cornelius and Cecelia (Mulloy) Gallagher. He was the youngest of three children. Jim was very proud to have grown up in Green Bay.
He attended St. Mary’s of the Angels grade school, Catholic Central and Premontre high schools. He participated in ROTC while in high school and upon graduation, enlisted in the Navy. Jim served in the Navy on the U.S.S. Charles P. Cecil. He oversaw the religious services on board the ship. After completing his time in the service, Jim attended UW Green Bay where he would meet his future wife, Jan. He graduated from UW Oshkosh with a degree in Business Administration. Jim and the former Jan Johnson were married August 26, 1967, at St. Philip the Apostle Catholic Church.
Jim was employed by Speed Queen which would take him to Jacksonville, Florida where he would live for two years. He eventually worked his way back to Green Bay where he was now employed by Hastings Aluminum. He was the top salesman in the Midwest and oversaw sales for eight states. Jim also started his own medical office cleaning service. He ended his career with what he would call his “retirement” job. Jim worked as a groundskeeper at Fiduciary Real Estate Development, Inc. He got to spend time outside, which he loved. He had a lot of fun with his coworkers, enjoyed bus trips to Brewers games and catered food days at work. Jim also got to know a lot of the tenants. His motto was to do a good deed every day. It would not be uncommon to hear him tell how he fixed a child’s bike that had a flat tire, or for him to shovel a path to a tenant’s car after a snowstorm. Many people received tomato plants that he grew in his own version of the upside-down planter.
Jim was cleaning for an office building who had a basement meeting room that looked out to the bottom of a window well. He used his own money and on his own time and planted a garden of flowers to beautify the space. He had O negative blood which is a rare type and over the years donated a total of sixty-one gallons. Jim loved watching the Packers and was a Packer stockholder. He loved fishing, golfing, and enjoyed spending time up north at his property, which we referred to as the Double JRG Ranch. Jim read in a book that if you put sunflower seeds in your hand and stood still, the chickadees would land on your hand to eat the seeds. He called this his St Francis of Assisi club. If you could get a picture with a bird eating out of your hand, you were in the club. He would tell us that the birds would know he had seed and would land on his glasses to his delight. Jim wasn’t allowed to have any pets growing up, so he had many as an adult.
He was in charge of planning many family reunions. Jim enjoyed spending time with his friends at the Pump Room and Mc George’s, and with his classmates at the Allouez Cafe. He made many Christmas wreaths and cooked many Thanksgiving turkeys. One of his favorite titles was grandpa. He enjoyed watching his granddaughters play basketball and watching his grandson wrestle. Heaven gained a good man today.
Jim is survived by his wife of fifty-three years, Jan and their three children: Kellie Gallagher, Terrie (Todd) Pickering and Dr. Matt (Pam) Gallagher; four grandchildren, Maggie, Delaney, Kinsey and Grady.
He is preceded in death by his brother, Dr. Donald (Mary Lou) Gallagher; his sister, Mary (Dick) Moe; many Golden Retrievers, Miniature Schnauzers, and cats. The family would like to thank the doctors and nurses in the cardiac unit at Bellin Hospital for their excellent care.
Friends may call at St. Mary of the Angels Catholic Church, 650 So. Irwin Ave. on Friday, July 9, from 10:00 am until time of Mass. Memorial Mass 11:00 am Friday at the church with Fr. Finian Zaucha OFM officiating. Military honors will follow immediately after Mass. Burial in the Allouez Catholic Cemetery. Online condolences may be sent to the Gallagher family at www.prokowall.com.
In lieu of floral expressions donations would be appreciated for Long Johns for St Johns. Checks can be made payable to Long Johns for St Johns, or go online to: longjohnsforstjohns.org. Long Johns for St Johns is a fundraiser created by Jim’s 15 year old granddaughter.