Leona E. (Fitzgerald) Gallo

Leona E. (Fitzgerald) Gallo of North Reading, MA formerly of Everett, passed away peacefully on April 11, 2022, she was 77 years old. Leona was the daughter of the late Dorothy (Venezia) and Arthur Fitzgerald.

She was the oldest of three children and was raised in Everett with her two sisters Janis Capachietti of Reading, MA and Joy Fitzgerald of San Francisco, CA. She spent the majority of her childhood at her grandparents' house in Revere with her many aunts, uncles and cousins. The bonds they made back in those early years followed them through their adult lives - they were all the best of friends, and still are.  Leona was preceded in death by the love of her life Robert H. Gallo of Chelsea. They met as teenagers, and spent countless days and nights living their best lives with their friends and family. The Gallos and the Fitzgeralds formed an immediate bond and spent every holiday together. It was like the two families became one. Bob and Leona raised their three children in North Reading and spent their summers on Pine Street in York Beach, Maine at the cottage that Bob built. You didn’t have to be related or even a friend…even if you were a friend of a friend or happened to be passing by you were always welcomed with open arms.  In 2016 Leona retired from the Batchelder School in North Reading after more than 25 years.  She started in the lunchroom and ended her career as a paraprofessional. The people she worked beside for all those years became some of her closest friends. She called them her Batch Family. 

She was survived by her three children Robert H. Gallo Jr. of NH, Robin (Gallo) Eisenhaure and her late husband Peter Eisenhaure, Kerri (Gallo) Shaw and her husband Brendon all of North Reading. She was the proud Grandmother of Nicole (Eisenhaure) Herbst and her husband Dave, Jessica Eisenhaure and her fiancé Jay Meyers, Alicia Gallo, and Billy, Christie and Danny Shaw, her numerous cousins (who were like brothers and sisters), nieces, nephews, and some very dear friends we call our “framily”.  No matter what era in her life you met her, you couldn't help but be drawn to her, love her, and become part of her family.

Funeral from the Cota Funeral Home, 335 Park St, (corner of Park St. and Rt. 28) North Reading on Tuesday, April 19th at 9:30am. Followed by a Funeral Mass in St. Theresa’s Church, 63 Winter St. (Rt.62), North Reading at 10:30 am. Internment will be in Riverside Cemetery, North Reading.

Relatives and friends may visit at the Funeral Home on Monday from 4-8pm. 

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Care Dimensions, 75 Sylvan Street, Suite B102, Danvers, MA 01923 or by logging on to caredimensions.org.

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