Gene and Pat Gallo were married 54 years. Pat died Thursday.
BRADENTON — On the day they were married — Aug. 2, 1962 — Gene and Pat Gallo made promises to each other, as many newlyweds are wont to do.
Promise No. 1: They would love each other “till death do us part.’’ Then they would make beautiful babies together and educate them as best they could. Finally, he would take her fishing if she did all the yard work.
It was a deal, of course, because Pat loved yard work almost as much as she loved Gene. While he was off fighting fires, or serving as a Bradenton city commissioner for all these years, she took care of things like the lawn. It was always impeccably manicured, the trees trimmed just so and somehow she always seemed to grow the best cherry tomatoes around.
Indeed, she enjoyed the simple things in life: Fishing, her grandsons, fishing with her grandsons, their soccer games, seeing snow fall in the mountains, visiting her daughter in Georgia, Manatee High football, tailgating in Gainesville, Elvis, and the collection of Coca-Cola memorabilia she kept inside her west Bradenton home.
Gene documented snippets of their life together in a blog on the internet. He called it “Paw-Paw’s Place’’ and here’s what is clear from reading it: Nothing matters more than family. He loves his two grandsons, Tyler and Luke, his two daughters, Sandy and Darenda, and as for Pat, well, that’s a whole different story.
Gene came to Bradenton from Miami as a 15-year-old kid with a big-city attitude. He attended Podunk Manatee High, where he would soon develop such passion for the school that he now wants his ashes buried under the football field. He graduated in 1957, though he’ll tell you he wasn’t the best student. It was around this time he met Pat.
Pat was born in Nauvoo, Alabama. Her mother and father were cotton pickers and moved around with the crops. At one point the family relocated to Kentwood, Louisiana, which she considered her hometown. How she wound up in Bradenton is not known, but Gene remembers how great it was driving around with her on a motorcycle and listening to the Platters on the radio.
After they were married, they made $115 a week combined and bought a house in Bradenton for $11,300. The mortgage was $71 a month. Life was simple. Best of all, they were together.
“I was so lucky to have met Pat at the time of my life I did,’’ Gene wrote on his blog to commemorate their 48th wedding anniversary in 2010. “Talk about a real blessing, Man, was she ever one. I still can’t figure out why she married me. I know why I married her!
“As I sit here at my desk and ponder, I realize this marriage was made in heaven.’’
For their 50th anniversary they spent three days in New York. They went to Ground Zero, saw a few Broadway shows and went to Ellis Island, where Gene’s father arrived from Sicily in 1921. He would go on to graduate from Columbia University. When they returned home they went on a dinner cruise in Sarasota with their daughters and grandsons.
By now, Pat was no longer mowing the yard herself either. She would do half and Gene would do half. A 50-50 split. Teamwork, he called it, but really, hadn’t it been all along?
Their 54th anniversary on Aug. 2 was just as memorable as Gene posted their wedding picture on Facebook along with the words:
“54 years ago I made the best decision in my life. Pat was a true blessing sent to me. I love her more today than I did yesterday and as Ray Charles sings 'I can’t stop loving you.'’’
On Thursday morning, Pat returned home from Christmas shopping and at some point between 10:30 a.m. and noon she became pinned against her garage by her car.
When Gene came home for lunch he found Pat dead. She was 73.
As the police arrived to investigate, and the neighbors gathered in shock, the lawn was neatly manicured, the trees trimmed just so and the yard looked beautiful, just as it had for all these long, wonderful years they had spent together.
After all, they always kept their promises.
— Chris Anderson can be reached at chris.anderson@heraldtribune.com