Janet Catherine Galloway

Janet Catherine Galloway, 80, mother to Thomas James Galloway (Tom) and Steven Donald Galloway (Steve), passed away on June 1st, 2024 at 5:15pm after a prolonged illness. Her final moments were spent peacefully with Tom by her side in Philadelphia.

 Janet was born March 16, 1944, in Melrose, Minnesota to Frank and Margaret Niehoff. She was the third of their five children, and was very close with her older sisters Joanne (Wolf) and Marilyn (Laing), as well as her younger brothers Tom and Gary Niehoff. She grew up on the family’s working dairy farm, and attended an actual one-room schoolhouse! 

 She met handsome British ex-patriate Donald James Galloway (Don) in 1974, and they were married on September 16th, 1975, in Denver, Colorado. She lived in Boulder, Colorado when their first son (Steve) was born. The family of three soon moved to sunny Sarasota, Florida. Soon, they welcomed their second son (Tom). She raised her children in Sarasota, where she lived until she retired from her 20-year career with the Sarasota County School District. 

 She was committed to physical fitness, and completed many races, including a marathon, half-marathon, and numerous 5, 8, and 10ks. The tenacity she exhibited during training and at race time impressively carried over to the intense physical therapy sessions she had later on in life. Even when things were tough, she had the heart of a champion.

 After retiring, Janet and Don moved to The Villages, Florida. They settled in beautifully, and Janet could often be found golfing, playing Euchre and bridge, at her book club, or enjoying farmers markets, craft fairs, and art fairs. She had adventurous taste in earrings, and hunted art fairs for beautifully hand-crafted pairs to grow her collection.

 She was a world-traveler, and had visited all seven continents (including Antarctica!) She loved collecting Christmas ornaments from all the places she had been. Each year when she’d put up her Christmas tree, she see the ornaments and enjoy her memories of her many journeys. She also collected tile trivets from the places she had been, and the kitchen walls where she displayed them were a testament to the extent of her traveling experience.

 Janet loved food. She loved to cook it, eat it, read about it, and talk about it. She was always eager to hear what you had been eating lately, read a new food magazine, try a new recipe or restaurant, or share her own food experiences with you. She was not a food snob, however. She appreciated meals ranging from a quick Pizza to the finest French cuisine, and had an opinion about all of it!

 The most important thing in the world to Janet was her family. Her face lit up whenever she saw her sons, Tom and Steve. Having her children, their spouses, and her grandchildren with her was her greatest joy, and the nine of them shared several special vacations all together. She loved traveling back to Minnesota for fun reunions with her siblings and their families, or joining up with them for cruise ship or destination adventures.

 Janet was a strong Roman Catholic all her life. She regularly attended Mass, prayed the Rosary, and received much peace from her faith. 

 She is survived by Tom, his wife (Tracy), their children (Riley and Lenora), Steve, his wife (Marianne), their children (Zoë and Archer), sisters Joanne (Wolf), and Marillyn (Laing), brother Gary Niehoff, sisters in-law Becky Niehoff, Mary Galloway, and Denise Galloway, and brother-in-laws Manfred Jager and Alec Galloway. She is predeceased by her husband Donald James Galloway, brother Tom Niehoff, brother-in-law Jim Wolf, and brother-in-law Jock Galloway.

 A Funeral Mass will be held at Church of the Immaculate Conception in Osakis, Minnesota on July 27th at 11am. The family will receive friends at the church an hour before the service, and at a light repast immediately following the service in the church’s school lunchroom.

 She will be interred at Palms-Robard Memorial Park in Sarasota, Florida, next to her husband, Donald.

 In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Janet’s honor to Fox-Chase Cancer Center.