Theresa "Trixie" Kathleen Myers Gallagher, 83, of Aberdeen, SD died Sunday, May 11, 2014 at Avera Mother Joseph Manor in Aberdeen, SD. Mass of Christian Burial will be Thursday, May 15, 2014 at 10:00 a.m. at St. Bernard's Catholic Church in Redfield. Father Christopher Hughes will celebrate the mass. Burial will be St. Bernard's Cemetery. Visitation will be Wednesday from 1-8:00 p.m. with a rosary at 6:30 p.m. at Thelen Funeral Home in Redfield. www.thelenfuneralhome.com


Trixie was born on October 6, 1930, to Emma Jensen Myers and Edward Leo Myers in Ashton, SD, the second of five children. Her father was the editor of The Ashton Chronicle newspaper, and her mother had been a school teacher. She spent her early years in Ashton and Midland, SD, and moved to Redfield in 1942. After the untimely death of Trixie's father in 1942, her mother Emma successfully raised her children on her own.

Trixie was a 1948 graduate of Redfield High School, where she was an honors graduate and one of the original Redfield Relays Queens. She was also among the earliest delegates to Girls State in South Dakota. As a teenager, she regularly worked to help support her family, including, notably, serving as an usherette at the Lyric movie theater in Redfield. She enjoyed trips when she could take them, and the motto attributed to her in her high school yearbook was "Let's go to Aberdeen!" Always a baseball fan as a result of her father's enthusiasms, a highlight of her early years was a trip, with her cousin Father Ed Myers, to the 1950 All Star Game in Chicago. Father Myers would later perform the marriage ceremony for her, and many years later for two of her sons.

Unable to afford college, Trixie began work as a clerk at the First National Bank of Aberdeen's Redfield branch, and had been accepted for employment as a stewardess at Northwest Airlines, but at that point she met her future husband, Ray Gallagher, a Sioux Falls native who was then an attorney in Redfield. They were married at St. Bernard's Catholic Church in Redfield on November 15, 1952.

Trixie and Ray raised four children, all of whom survive her: Edward (Julie) of New York, NY; Thomas (Nancy) of Naples, FL and Spearfish Canyon, SD; Patrick (Roberta) of Aberdeen; and Mary Jaffe (David) of Washington, D.C. Trixie was a resident of Redfield from 1942 until 2001, when she moved to Aberdeen.

Ray was a Redfield attorney for more than forty years; he preceded Trixie in death, in 1997. He served in several leadership posts in the Veterans of Foreign Wars, including national Commander-in-Chief for 1969-70. In connection with Ray's VFW work, Trixie and Ray traveled the United States and the world from 1967 through 1970, as well as in later years. A particular highlight was a private audience with Pope Paul VI in Rome during an around-the-world trip during Ray's year as Commander-in-Chief.

In Redfield, Trixie was a lifelong member of St. Bernard's Catholic Church, including its Altar Society, and taught catechism to second-grade children at St. Bernard's for more than twenty years. She was also a member of the Ladies Auxiliary of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and a volunteer Gray Lady. Trixie also served as a "safety lady," recording shows on children's safety for South Dakota Public Broadcasting, working in association with local police officers. During the tax-filing season, she would work in Ray's law office.

Trixie enjoyed sports of all kinds, from little league to professional, and was an avid lifelong fan of the Brooklyn and later Los Angeles Dodgers, the Minnesota Twins, and, in football, of the Minnesota Vikings and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Whenever she was in a major league city, she loved to attend baseball games. In 1965, she attended both the All Star Game and the 6th game of the World Series. In the 1960s, Trixie favored an apron that read "The heck with housework, let's go see the Dodgers play." She took a course in football appreciation at Northern State University and earned an A, giving her a lifetime grade point average of 4.0.

In later years, Trixie was a devoted grandparent, greatly enjoying the attention of her grandchildren, all of whom adored her unconditionally. She would happily get onto the floor and maneuver into her grandchildren's playhouses, and no matter her physical condition, visits from her grandchildren never failed to cheer her.

Trixie was twice a cancer survivor, and a model to all who suffered from that affliction.

In addition to her four children, Trixie is survived by her sister, Emma Lee Harter of Centreville, Virginia, and six grandchildren: Jackson Gallagher (Edward); Raymond, Thomas, Daniel, and Emma Gallagher (Patrick); and Sam Jaffe (Mary). She was preceded in death by her parents, two brothers (Edward Leo and Daniel), one sister (Sophie), and one grandson (Michael), as well as her husband Ray.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Salvation Army, in recognition of the help they provided Trixie's father on his return from World War I. Information can be found at http://donate.salvationarmyusa.org.