When it comes to your time to leave this earth, how will you say goodbye?
The following is the self-composed obituary of Bill Gallagher as it appeared on the website of Anderson Stevenson Wilke Funeral Home & Crematory in Helena Montana.
Be inspired…
“William Anthony (Bill) Gallagher Jr., the most fortunate, blessed man you might ever want to meet, died on May 22nd at age 55.
After a long running battle with pancreatic cancer, I am headed into Chapter 3 of my life. Chapter 1 being that time that I was comfortably ensconced in my mother’s womb and Chapter 2 being my delightful life here on earth.
Chapter transitions and tragic times in our life, at the time, are fraught with trepidation, apprehension and anxiety. Imagine trying to explain to an unborn baby how life is going to be on the outside. “No thanks! I’ll stay right here where I am comfortable, thank you very much.” Truth is, life’s “chapters” and transitions, at the time I endured them, seemed disastrous, and devastating. But, looking back they ended up being avenues for blessing, good fortune and the very best things in my life.
So, unless my faith in the risen Savior Jesus Christ is sorely misplaced, I suspect that this transition, like my last one from womb to big scary beautiful world, will be viewed in retrospect with pleasant appreciation.
Take for example the calamity when I was 10. My parents’ turbulent divorce, my mother’s remarriage to a step-father I didn’t appreciate, followed by my brothers’ and my unwilling relocation to the high desert community of Lovelock, Nevada.
But, it was there that I had the good fortune of coming under the mentorship of my son’s namesake, Pastor Buck Dikes and his family. They introduced me to a living Jesus Christ and His importance in their lives. It was there that my friend’s mother, JoAnn Meredith, committed me to her prayers and undoubtedly rendered me the beneficiary of countless life blessings.
It was in Lovelock that I met and fell in love with my beautiful wife, Jennifer, of 37 years, who, after nearly four decades with me, managed to maintain her physical beauty, her sanity, and her patience. We have two children and 5 precious, above average, grandbabies; David Buckley Gallagher and his son Tristan, Catrina Jean Majack and her daughters, Grace and Anna, and sons, Caleb and Samuel.
Athletics led me to a scholarship at Western Montana College in Dillon, Montana, where I immediately fell in love with this gorgeous state and everything about her. I agree with John Steinbeck, “I have respect and admiration for other states, but with Montana its Love, and when you’re in love you just can’t explain it”. In Dillon, my son’s other namesake, David Cypher and his family, mentored me in church and family and taught me the basics of my lifelong passion for hunting and fishing.
A degree from Western, led me to a coveted position as High School History teacher and coach in the charming little town of Plains, Montana, just west of Paradise and the confluence of the Clark Fork and Flathead rivers. There, I was mentored by Ron Rude, Bob Johnston and other fine teachers, and of course, my students.
Call me a romantic, but there I fell in love yet again, with the generous people, the wild mountains, rivers and forests. I’m not sure if Plains adopted me or I adopted Plains as my Montana hometown, but after I left in ’88, I spent the rest of my life trying to find a way to get back permanently.
Now, I’ve done it. You’re welcome to my graveside service at the Plains Cemetery, where we’ll celebrate my Chapter 3 homegoing at my last real estate purchase. A little tract with a gorgeous view of the western mountain cut that silently watches the setting sun and the westerly flow of the Clark Fork River.
Another “tragedy” turned blessing in my life was a foolish decision to stick my hand into a neighbor’s operating meat grinder. Although traumatic, that accident introduced me to my neighbor’s kind insurance company adjustor. I soon became their customer and eventually secured an agency with Farm Bureau Insurances. That required a move to Polson where, in addition to the insurance, I invested in several businesses, including Days Inn Hotel franchise.
The insurance career led to a move to Helena where I learned to be a farmer. Because of the blessings rained on me, most decidedly from the prayers my friend’s mother and due in no small part to my wife’s commitment to tithing, we prospered and I was able to retire at the ripe young age 42.
Able to do anything I pleased, I enrolled at the University of Montana Law School. That led to a highly gratifying solo practice in Helena where I especially enjoyed helping the elderly navigate an ever increasing complex business and tax world. It also led to my running for public office. I was elected to serve the people of Montana and lead the Montana Public Service Commission, where I successfully helped Montana reacquire her hydro-electric dams squandered in the 1990’s.
So, how does a man with the misfortune of dying of pancreatic cancer at 55 come to the conclusion that he’s one of the luckiest people you’ll ever know?
Well, in my theme of bad circumstances and transitions turning out to be blessings, let me explain….
First, if this damned disease had struck anybody that I loved, I would have been begging, even demanding that God take it out of their body and put it in mine. Thank you God for letting it be me.
Second, unlike my proverbial Uncle Bob, the bus driver, who died quietly in his sleep or his proverbial passengers who died screaming in terror as his bus went off the cliff, I was blessed with nearly two years heads up! Every bit of which I needed to set things right, especially torn relationships. Believe it or not, I was far from perfect. Thank you God for the time and forgiveness.
Finally, I get to avoid my fear of dying very old, confused and alone. And, as a bonus, I don’t have to watch as my beloved country flushes itself down the toilet of depravity. Thank you God for when and where I lived my life.
So, if you knew me, I thank you! My life was well lived and I’m grateful for your helping me to live it. If you didn’t know me, then you now know at heart I am a storyteller and just taught my last lesson. About the time you think your life is in the middle of tragedy, hold on, you might one day be writing your own obituary explaining how all of the bad things in your life turned into delightful blessings.
Finally, if you are wondering how I can be so confident about Chapter 3 of my life, take a quick peek at Romans 10:9. I hope I see you all again one day.”
Romans 10:9, 10
“If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”
Hebrews 9:27, 28
“Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.”