Richard John Galloni

Richard John Galloni, 91, affectionately known by his friends and family as, “Dick,” passed away peacefully, Saturday, November 25, 2023 at Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah.  

Dick was born on May 29, 1932, in Sharpesville, Pennsylvania to the late John and Ann Marie Rosatti Galloni.  He learned the value of hard work at an early age, lettering in football and baseball and was good enough to play collegiately, but rumblings of war in Korea prompted Dick to join the United States Air Force after his high school graduation in 1950. He went on to work with airborne avionics systems including radar, bombs, autopilots, electronic countermeasures and navigation systems on several different aircraft.   Dick’s military service included appointments in Georgia, Colorado, Mississippi, Nebraska, Louisiana, and Puerto Rico.  In 1971, Dick retired as a Major with twenty-one years of service.  

After retirement,  Dick lived in Jacksonville, Florida for a short time before relocating to Jesup, where he began a teaching career, first in elementary special education then as a math teacher at Wayne County High School, later moving to Fernandina Beach, where he taught junior high and high school math. Dick later served as math department chairman and then assistant principal at Fernandina Beach High, as well as an assistant baseball coach. 

He relocated back to Jesup in 1998 and has been very active in the Wayne County Community since then.  He was a Master Mason for over fifty years attaining the rank of  32nd degree Sco­ttish Rite,  having served as Worshipful Master and was also a member of the Knights of the York Right Council of Honor (KYCH) for over fifty years. He was past Commander of the Knights Templar and was also a member of Shriners for over fifty years.  Dick was a member of the Kiwanis Club and had served on the Wayne County Tax Assessor Board for over fifteen years.  He was a communicant of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church where he served as Senior Warden.

In his spare time, Dick was a lifelong artist and painter who also enjoyed reading and solving complicated  math problems.  He was a lover of animals and an avid Atlanta Braves fan who played Bridge frequently.  He enjoyed the company of his beloved family and close friends and he always cherished the time they spent together.  In addition to his parents, his two brothers, Carl and Joseph Galloni, both preceded him in death

Survivors include his wife of sixty-eight years, Jacquelyn Strickland Galloni of Jesup; two daughters, Jan Galloni Hediger of Jesup and Jill Galloni Kampfe and husband, John of Atlanta and two granddaughters, Katherine Hediger and fiancé, Harry Tenenbaum of Nashville, Tennessee and Anna Louise Kampfe of Brooklyn, New York.  Numerous extended family members also survive.

Mass of Christian Burial will be at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, December 4, 2023 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church with the Reverends Nathan Wilson and Steve Larson officiating.  The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service at the church and a reception will follow the service immediately in the parish hall.

Interment services will follow in Pinecrest Memorial Cemetery with full military honors rendered by the United States Air Force followed by Masonic Rites.

Remembrances may be made to St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 745 S. Palm St., Jesup, GA 31545.