ForeverMissed
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His Life
November 12, 2013

NORFOLK — Services for George S. Gallu, 82, of Norfolk will be at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at First Baptist Church with the Rev. D. Gordon Braun officiating and burial in Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery. Visitation will be Wednesday from 4 to 7 p.m. at Brockhaus-Howser-Fillmer Funeral Home.

       

He died Monday, May 20, 2013, at Golden Living Center following a brief battle with cancer.

                    

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George was born to John and Gladys(Day) Gallu on Nov. 20, 1930, in St. Joseph, Mo., where he attended Central High School. He married Joyce Redinger on Nov. 7, 1952, in St. Joseph. He served in the U.S. Air Force and received a medical discharge after one year. He lived in St. Joseph, Atlantic, Iowa, and Norfolk.

He was a technical sales specialist for the Bayer Corporation in animal health until he retired in 1999. While working for Bayer, he was the first sales specialist to sell over one million dollars for the company.

George attended First Baptist Church in Norfolk, where he served faithfully as an usher for many years. For many years, he was known at the church as the “candy man,” as he enjoyed giving a piece of hard candy to every child that walked through the doors. After one of his grandchildren was placed in the nursery at the church, he realized that the room was uncomfortably hot and humid. He quickly equipped the nursery with a room air conditioner, which solved the problem. This was just one of the many ways George shared his gift of generosity.

Along with his church activities, George was a member of the Sunset Plaza Coffee Group and the Sunset Plaza Joggers. He and his friends got together almost daily to solve the world’s problems over a cup of coffee, followed by power walks around the mall. George was also part of the Water Park Committee.

George has always been known as the master storyteller, which sometimes required him to “cite his source.” He was also known for his expert pieces of advice, making him the self-proclaimed “advice czar” (with the business cards to prove it).

Grandpa George took great delight in all of his grandchildren. With every visit to his granddaughters, he presented them with a single rose. Over the years, he also took the time to send his daughter and granddaughters valentines that had been hand-stamped with a postmark from Valentine, Nebraska. He attended as many sporting events and dance recitals as time allowed. Most visits ended with a handshake and a handful of “walkin-around money.”

Forever grateful for having shared his life are his wife, Joyce; his sister, Bonnie Price; two sons and their wives, John and Lisa Gallu, Randy and Sybil Gallu; and one daughter and husband, Chuck and Marcy(Gallu) Wolkow. He is also survived by six grandchildren, Riley Gallu, Tim Wolkow, Molly Gallu, Kelley (Wolkow) Lund, Sam Gallu, and Jake Gallu, along with two great-grandchildren, Kai Gallu and Katelyn Lund.

He was preceded in death by his parents; one sister, Beverly Trotter; and one granddaughter, Abby Jane Wolkow.