Jul 14, 1941 – Feb 18, 2026
Mary Alice Gallaher (Daley), age 84, passed away peacefully on February 18th at St. Monica’s Memory Care, leaving behind a legacy of love, laughter, and resilience.
Born on July 14, 1941, in Gary, Indiana, the daughter of Frank Daley and Theresa “Tess” Daley (Kundrat). Mary Alice grew up in Whiting, Indiana, and graduated from Whiting High School in 1959. Escaping to the bright lights of Chicago, she found friendship, love, and blues music as a vibrant young woman in the city.
Mary Alice married Thomas Murphy in 1961. The young couple moved to Oklahoma when Mr. Murphy was stationed at Fort Sill in Lawton, a place Mary Alice thoroughly despised. During her time there, she was jailed overnight for accurately calling a local police officer a bigot. She faced her punishment with grace, hugging her fellow inmates farewell the next morning.
Oklahoma was not without its blessings. In 1963, Mary Alice welcomed her daughter, Kelly Katherine, and soon after, the family returned to Chicago. A passionate advocate for justice, she fought against redlining in her Rogers Park neighborhood, marched for civil rights and against the Vietnam War, and was a staunch supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment.
In 1972, she married Kenneth Gallaher and had a son, James Corbin, in 1979. During her time living in Algonquin, Illinois, she proudly worked for Marshall Fields & Co. and established an affinity for bed linens, which enriched the local community later on at her estate sale.
In her 50s, proving that it is never too late to pursue an education, Mary Alice earned her bachelor’s degree from National Louis University and became a certified alcohol and drug abuse counselor. She dedicated her career to helping others, working with the Lake County Health Department, Racine Correctional Institution, Milwaukee Sheriff’s Department, and as a Recovery Coordinator at Kenosha Human Development Services until her retirement.
At just five feet tall, Mary Alice counseled alcohol and drug addicts in the prison system with courage, compassion, and love, earning their respect and deeply valuing the work she did.
Mary Alice adored animals, caring for more furbabies than anyone could count — all badly behaved. She loved to share her favorite book, Seabiscuit, often handing out spare copies to friends and strangers alike. Her taste in men may have been questionable, but her taste in art and music was impeccable — Prince was her favorite, of course.
She loved oriental art of all kinds and firmly believed she had been Chinese in another life. She was overjoyed when her first grandchild, Tess, was adopted by Kelly and her husband, Dan, in China. To be closer to the growing family, she bought a home in Elmwood Park and embraced her new Wisconsin community, making dozens of friends along the way.
Sadly, around 2010, the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease began to affect her life, and in 2020, she moved to St. Monica’s Memory Care, where she was surrounded by compassionate care and love. Even in illness, Mary Alice never lost her smile or her laugh.
Mary Alice was preceded in death by her parents, Frank and Tess (Kundrat) Daley, her godmother Margaret (Kundrat) Lanham, her godfather Theodore Kundrat, and her husband of fifty-four years, Kenneth Gallaher. She is survived by her daughter, Kelly Gallaher (Dan Dimler); her son, James Gallaher (Dawn Gallaher); and her granddaughters, Tess, Hannah, and Ella.
Mary Alice Gallaher will be profoundly missed and forever remembered by her family, friends, and all who had the privilege of knowing her.
Mary Alice’s family wishes to thank the staff, volunteers, and Sisters of St. Rita at St. Monica’s Memory Care for their kindness and compassion throughout the years she lived there.
For those who wish to honor Mary Alice, a donation to the Wisconsin Humane Society https://www.wihumane.org/ is suggested.
