On Tuesday, June 18th, Joan Marie Galbi passed away with family at her side.
Joan grew up in Brooklyn, New York and was married to Elmer for 58 wonderful years. They raised their family in Endwell, New York, and lived the
last 30 years in Lake Oswego, Oregon. Joan was passionate about art, cheese-making, hiking, and politics.
Her love of people was shown through her teaching both as a high-school and community college math teacher. After retiring as a teacher at Portland Community College she continued taking classes there in print-making, calligraphy, and painting. One of Joan's paintings hangs prominently in the Portland Community College main
library. Her award-winning cheeses were widely admired and often quickly devoured by her sons if they were in town.
Joan always thought about others before herself. She was a fun-filled and super-energetic person who brought this spirit to all her endeavors. She will be greatly missed.
She was preceded in death by her parents Victorine and Aziz Gorra, her sister Marie, and her brothers-in-law Nicholas, Vincent, and Joseph.
She is survived by her beloved husband Elmer, her four sons David, Douglas, Duane (Karen), and Dwight (Tamara), her brother George (Leilla), her
five sisters Frieda, Lorraine, her twin Claire (George), Renee, and Vivienne, along with numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and dear friends.
A Tribute to Mom:
"Have you had lunch yet?" Such a simple, common question. It's heard frequently, and it's usually accompanied by a simple answer and then forgotten as part of everyday life. Yet when those words are the first words to come from someone battling to survive, upon seeing one of her sons who she loved so dearly, it goes to the very essence of that person's personality.
Mom was always thinking about others, especially when it came to her four "boys". Yes, her "boys". Never mind that these "boys" were all over half a century old, long having flown mom's nest and scattered across the edges of the U.S., far from her. They would always be her boys, and as their mom she would never stop being a mom to them. She always wanted to make sure they were doing the right thing, regardless of whether they listened to her or not - and often I didn't. Mom didn't require in return anything, although she loved nothing better than to hear her son's voice on the phone or see a son or all of them in person.
"It's been so long that I've heard from you." Never mind if you had just called last week, to mom it was always too long ago, because she needed to make sure her boys were doing ok, and she wanted to share always in the joys of their lives. Most of all, she wanted to make sure they were eating right, sleeping enough, not overworking themselves, and not getting stressed out. Nothing seemed to make mom happier than hearing from her boys and hearing that they were indeed getting the proper balance in life.
Life is fleeting, but so often one doesn't realize that fully until one you hold so near and dear to you departs this world.
As one of her four boys, I'm only starting to realize now how deeply I loved mom and how much she meant to me. I indeed should have called her more, listened to her more, and given her more love in return for all she gave to me.
So yes mom, I had lunch, and of course mom I wasn't going to tell you it consisted of a soda and some pretzels,
but I know now I can tell you that and you'll forgive me as you always have for anything bad I've done. I can't directly call you anymore,
but you'll always have a direct line to my heart.
One day, so long as I can follow your wisdom more often, I hope to see you again and enter your new world of everlasting peace.
Addendums:
We all can speak with one voice through Dwight's tribute to Joan.
A celebration of her life was held on August 3rd, 2019 at the World Forestry Center at 11:00am.