Donald James Gallagher

Donald James Gallagher, age 97, of Storm Lake, Iowa died on Monday, May 16, 2022 at Methodist Manor Retirement Community in Storm Lake. Funeral Mass will take place Saturday, May 21, 2022 at 10:30 a.m. at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Storm Lake, Iowa. Burial will be in the St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery. Visitation will held Friday, May 20, 2022 from 5-8:00 p.m. with Rosary beginning at 5:00 p.m. and Prayer Vigil beginning at 7:30 p.m. all at the Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in STORM LAKE. The Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake is in charge of arrangements. Don Gallagher was born November 17, 1924, to Eugene and Helen (Creamer) Gallagher in Brooklyn, Iowa. As a boy, Don helped on the farm, played high school baseball, basketball, and football, and served as president for the Brooklyn High School Class of 1942. Following high school, Don worked on the farm and in construction before matriculating to St. Ambrose University in Davenport, where he studied secondary education. He graduated from St. Ambrose, then opted to take a position in sales with the Philadelphia Envelope Co., and toured Iowa while making calls on offices in every county courthouse in the state. He was then drafted into the U.S. Army and served his country during the Korean War. A position selling livestock feed for the Walnut Grove Feed Company blossomed into opportunities elsewhere in Iowa, including DeWitt, Vinton, and Strawberry Point. While working in Vinton, a blind date with a kindergarten teacher in town, Anne Stock, saw the 36-year-old bachelor and the 25-year-old educator attend a St. Patrick’s Day dance in Cedar Rapids. The luck of the Irish prevailed and the couple wed five months later at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Storm Lake on Aug. 5, 1961. Eight children were born to this union in near-record time. Don and Anne bought a four-bedroom home at the end of Prairie Avenue in Strawberry Point and saw their children carve a whiffle ball field into the yard, leaving Don room for a vegetable garden, where homeruns disappeared as he hoed potatoes. The couple spent a quarter-century there, washing cloth diapers, keeping a fleet of bicycles mostly operational, and attending school, church, and community events. Curiously, Don also took up golf during this time and became integral in the operation of Backbone Golf & Country Club, hand-raking and seeding greens and running tournaments for golfers throughout northeast Iowa. Following Don’s retirement as district sales manager for Yoder Feeds in 1986, the couple moved to Storm Lake. Five of their children were graduated from Starmont High School, while three are Storm Lake High School graduates. In retirement, Don raised money for the Storm Lake High School Booster Club. He delivered Meals on Wheels, sold some advertising for The Storm Lake Times, played Santa at Santa’s Castle, toiled as an officer for the Northwest Iowa Golf Association, and worked with The Times to raise funds for local veterans to visit Washington, D.C., via the Honor Flight program. And, he kept golfing. A lot. Don likely set a record for the number of golf holes played by an Iowan who, despite his skill, never made a hole-in-one, having witnessed at least 10. He shot his age dozens of times and received a standing ovation at the Alta Golf Course when he fashioned an even-par 36 in league play at age 95. (He probably told you about it.) A people person to his core, Don sipped coffee at Hy-Vee, strolled the aisles at Fareway, and learned the latest in a morning klatch at Seiler Plumbing. A child of the Great Depression, Don took pride in his appearance: pressed slacks and wingtips, juxtaposed with the home-team sweatshirt. A grandson of Irish immigrants, he came by storytelling honestly, savoring a memorable tale and crafted his own with impeccable timing, pitch, and irreverence. He enjoyed politics, news, conversation with everyone, big band music, people who were open-minded, and “good operators.” His blood pressure rose and fell with the Beavers, Tornadoes, Panthers, Stars, Hawkeyes, Cubs, and on Election Night. Don is survived by his eight children: Maggie and Al Rudy of Radcliffe, Iowa; Dan and Jen of Waukee, Iowa; Joe and Cathy of St. Charles, Missouri; Tim and Jill of Storm Lake, Iowa; Marty and Emily of Storm Lake, Iowa; Katie and partner, Ronald Lindblom of Waterloo, Iowa; Ed of Jackson, Minnesota; Jerry of Cedar Falls, Iowa; 27 grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; brother-in-law: Dick Claeys of Belle Plaine, Iowa; sister-in-law: Julie Stock of Roselle, Illinois; and 22 nieces and nephews. Don and Anne also hosted a foreign-exchange student, Erik Eldhagen, of Sweden, in 1991-92, who remains close to the family. He was preceded in death by his wife of 47 years, Anne; his parents, his three siblings, his parents-in-law, two brothers-in-law, two sisters-in-law, and several of his golf foursomes. Memorial contributions made following Anne’s death 13 years ago created a scholarship fund through Storm Lake’s Dollars for Scholars, an organization Don and Anne supported. This spring, he humbly considered the blessings he enjoyed in being able to offer a pair of scholarships to high school seniors 80 years following his high school graduation. Memorial gifts in the couple’s name will continue this scholarship effort for the benefit of college-bound future teachers from Storm Lake and St. Mary’s high schools.

Donald James Gallagher

November 17, 1924 - May 16, 2022