Walter L. Galey's Obituary
Walter Galey went home to his eternal resting place with the Lord, his loving parents, brother and other family and friends on December 22, 2014 where he was met with loving embraces and grew his wings.
Walter was born on February 27, 1934 to Roy and Evelyn Galey (both deceased) in Martinsville, IL. Walter had a close-knit family which includes David Kendall of Martinsville, Kenneth (wife Francis) of Pasadena, MD, Lyle (deceased) (wife Marie), and Sara Smith (Walter) of Lady of Lake, FL. While attending Martinsville High School Walter was a member of the football team and later graduated from the school.
As a teenager he met the love of his life, Delores (Veach) in Westfield, IL. The two were married June 24, 1955. Through their love they were gifted three children: Larry (partner Dorinda Chrisman) of Tucson, AZ, Debra Soto (husband Albert) of Tucson, AZ, and David (wife Susan Haig) of Alabaster, AL. Walter has 8 grandchildren: (Larry's) Matthew (fiancé Katherine Beckridge), Bridget Arlig (husband Andrew), and Steven; (Debra's) Marissa (husband Paolo Fontes) and Andre' (wife Stacey Phillips); (David's) Christopher (wife Staci Hawkins), Adam (wife Jenny Toussaint), and Ryan. Walter has 3 great granddaughters - Olivia, Julia and Adeline.
Walter attended and received his Bachelor's degree from Eastern Illinois University in Industrial Education in 1971. After graduating Walter worked in Champaign/Urbana with special population students. Walter taught his special students to build a small-scale house complete with electricity and plumbing.
During the early 1970's time period Walter was involved in the Boy Scouts where he assisted the scout leader in Arthur and traveled on several trips with son Larry and the scout group. Walter and Delores also were involved with Arthur’s teen community center where they spent quite a bit of time while their children were younger teenagers.
In July 1974 Walter moved his family to Tucson, AZ where he was employed at Tucson Unified School District as an industrial education teacher until he retired in 1993. Walter & a team teacher were among the first to build a working robot as a project while working at the school district's main office in the late 1980's. The robot was used as a project model for the school district.
Walter received his Master of Arts degree in Education from the University of Arizona. One of his favorite areas of study at University of Arizona was photography. Walter loved to take pictures of family and other areas of interest. He had acquired equipment to develop film and print pictures. Later, as technology developed, he would use computer programs to download, alter, perfect and print pictures and create photography slide shows/presentations.
Walter enjoyed traveling with Delores. Some of the places they traveled abroad to were Tahiti for their 25th anniversary, Bora Bora, the Orient, and Egypt. They traveled frequently within the United States when their children were younger and enjoyed an anniversary trip to Hawaii a few years ago.
Walter loved square and round dancing, telling jokes, and loved being with his children and grandchildren. Walter had a great sense of humor and often teased back-and-forth with friends and family.
If you would like to contribute a remembrance to Walter please consider donating to Make a Wish Foundation (www.wish.org) or St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (www.stjude.org). Walter loved children so much and would have wished help for children with chronic illnesses.
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