Major Walter Gallie - Obituary

AJOR WALTER ALOIS GALLIE (Retired) USAF 87, of Fort Washington, MD, passed away on October 25, 2011. He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Marjorie Ann (Theisen); children David Gallie and wife Doreen, Ann Marie Dixon and husband Joseph, Jillian Gallie and husband Jeffrey Witcosky, and Christine Cacic and husband Michael; grandchildren Zachary Spille, Joshua Spille, Aleksandra Cacic, and Arianna Cacic; and great-grandchild Joaquin Spille. He is preceded in death by daughter Katherine Gallie and grandson Bob William Gallie. Walter was born June 22, 1924 to parents Louis and Katherine (Jungmann) Galli in Secaucus, New Jersey. He graduated from Demarest High School in Hoboken in June 1941. He enlisted in the US Navy in September of 1942 and served on 2 submarines during World War II – the USS Bergall and the USS Blenny. After the War, in December 1945, he reenlisted in the US Navy and was assigned to the USS Requin. It was during this tour that he met his future wife, Marjorie, on a blind date in Gulfport, Mississippi. He was discharged from the Navy in October, 1947, and Walter and Marjorie married January 24, 1948, in her hometown of Alton, Illinois. That year, Walter enrolled at New York University to study meteorology, having been first exposed to it in the V-5 program and while aboard the USS Blenny, where he took weather observations that supported the rescue of downed pilots. In his junior year, he enrolled in the Air Force ROTC program. In 1953, he graduated from NYU with a B.S. and M.S. in Meteorology and, in September, he was assigned to Manston RAF Station in England, where he served as a weather forecaster for 3 years. In 1956, he and the family returned to the United States, where Walter worked at the Air Force Weather Station, Air Force Technical Applications Center, and the Office of Aerospace Research. He retired in January 1968, and, in August, 1968, he was hired by the Air Force Systems Command and served as a civilian until he retired in June 1986. Walter was specifically proud of the recognition he received for his contribution to the successful mission of the First DOD Space Shuttle Flight Mission. During his retirement years, Walter served as Commander for the State of Maryland for the WWII U.S. Submarine Veterans (2000-2002), and as a member of the Holland Club, U.S. Submarine Veterans. Walter was a loving family man who had numerous hobbies and interests including lapidary, crocheting and tatting, and fishing and crabbing. He had a great sense of humor and loved a good joke. Family and friends are invited to Walter's Life Celebration on Tuesday, Nov. 1 from 7 to 9 pm at George P. Kalas Funeral Home, 6160 Oxon Hill Rd. Oxon Hill, MD. Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at St. Columba Catholic Church 7800 Livingston Rd., Oxon Hill, MD on Wednesday, November 2, 2011 at 10 AM. Interment will be Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 3PM at Arlington National Cemetery with full Military Honors. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Fisher House Foundation. Sleep with the angels, Dad.