Julia Mary “Julie” Galvin, 93, of Louisville, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, May 7, 2019 at Baptist Health Louisville, Palliative Care with her family by her side. She was born February 11, 1926 in Indianapolis, IN a daughter to John D. and May A. (Masters) Cooper. Julia was a 1944 graduate of Mercy Academy.
Soon after, she met the love of her life, Jack Galvin and the two were joined in marriage on June 7, 1949. Together they started their family, raised four children and were married 60 years, until Jack’s untimely passing on February 19, 2010. In addition to her parents and her husband, Jack, she is also preceded in death by her siblings, Henry (Eleanora) Cooper, Edna (John) Duffy, Elizabeth Cooper, John (Verna) Cooper and Florence (John) Gettler.
Julia is survived by her children, Debbie Smith (Dan), Barb Johnson (Larry) and Cliff Galvin (Mardi), all of Louisville; Anita Coffman (Jay) of Bowling Green and a brother-in-law, Fred Galvin, Jr. of Avon, OH. She also leaves to cherish her memory eight grandchildren, April Smith, Loren Catrambone (Michael), Hayley Smith, Hunter and Chase Galvin; Ava, Jacob and Zach Coffman and two great-grandchildren, Peyton and Cooper Catrambone She was a member of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, and Hunter’s Club, a social group of longtime friends and classmates for over 70 years. Our Mom was strong, reserved, loyal to family, friends, and faithful to God and church with every action she made.
She always was intentional with the words she spoke, and her grace and generosity were a part of who she was. She did everything in her life to be a good steward with what she had. She possessed an unrestrained and unconditional love for her children, her many grandchildren, and great-grandchildren .
This same love was shared with her many friends, loyal customers at Ginny’s Hallmark store where she worked for over 37 years, and her neighbors both old and new became her adopted family members too. Mom’s first 50 years of married life were spent raising the four of us. She taught us how to keep a fastidiously clean home, maintain our integrity and work ethic at school and in our jobs, and most importantly be faithful to God and church.
It was her years spent in retail that showed us another side of herself. She was a loyal and dedicated employee at Ginny’s Hallmark store. Even after she “retired”, she gladly filled a void for an absent employee many times up until she officially retired at age 84, and the store closed soon after.
She proved she could adapt with the many challenges that comes with retail including the technology updates that many seniors her age would not attempt. Her generosity, kindness, and compassion for everyone were truly some of her special traits. Everyone in our family and even many friends and neighbors received beautiful cards for every birthday with a small monetary gift and/or included a very special handwritten note.
After she finally retired, our Mom couldn’t go anywhere without running into a friend or customer who didn’t receive a hug and a smile. They told us many times they missed going to Hallmark because they loved seeing her especially. While Mom was always a respectful, reserved, and genuinely friendly person, she had a feisty side, which appeared when her Louisville Cards Basketball team played.
She was their most ardent fan and especially loved the Denny Crum years. Our divided family UK/UL get togethers could be lively. Mom never wavered in her support of the “Cards” through the years, but she was gracious enough to cheer on any universities in Kentucky if her Cards met their end in a tournament.
She had one of the keenest memories of all of us remembering dates and people’s names, even all her doctors and nurses who cared for her recently. She kept a careful record of all-important dates and never forgot anyone and celebrated their important life memories. Each immediate family member has enough Hallmark Christmas ornaments to cover at least two Christmas trees which will be a cherished memory of our Mom for many years.
When our Dad passed, she found solace with the Ratterman Grief Support and Lost and Found groups, whose many members quickly became her closest and dearest friends to this very day. This made us so happy and thankful that she had these close-knit groups to offer support since Mom and Dad had celebrated almost 60 years of marriage and she missed him very much. Our Mom lived by the Golden Rule, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets”.
She lived that daily right to the very end repeatedly thanking every nurse, aide, and doctor who cared for her at Baptist Health, Baptist Palliative Care, KORT Therapy St. Matthews, and Westport Place. We would like to especially thank Brandon Fowler, PT, with KORT, Dr. William Dillon, M.D. and Peyton Turner, PAC with Louisville Cardiology for their excellent loving care of our Mom. Her Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 12 p.m. Tuesday, May 14, 2019 at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, 508 Breckenridge Lane with burial to follow in Calvary Cemetery.
Visitation will be from 10:30 a.m. until time of service at 12 p.m. at the church. Ratterman Funeral Home, 3711 Lexington Road, “in St. Matthews”, was entrusted with arrangements. Memorial gifts, in lieu of flowers, may be made to Our Lady of Lourdes or Mass of the Air.
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