Catherine "Kathleen" Gallivan

WORCESTER-Catherine "Kathleen" E. (O'Malley) Gallivan passed away peacefully on Monday, October 15, 2018 surrounded by her loving family. She was born on May 15, 1934 to John and Mary (O'Toole) O'Malley on Inishturk Island, County Mayo, Ireland.

Kathleen immigrated to Worcester, MA in 1952. She worked as a nanny, nurses aid and in 1974 she became a nurse. She worked at the Glavin Regional Center in Shrewsbury for many years. She retired from the St Francis Home in 2000.

She was predeceased by her husband Walter of 28 years in 1984 and her companion Martin "Junior" Walsh of 22 years in 2009. She leaves her 3 children, Walter P. "Patrick" Gallivan, Jr. and his wife Susan, Mary Minor and her husband Stephen and Ann Marie Keane and her husband Jim. She also leaves behind her 10 grandchildren that she adored; Kathleen, Stephen, Deirdre, Orlagh, Sinead, Eoghan, Aidan, Daniel, Ryan and Michael. She leaves 5 great grandchildren. She also leaves behind her sisters Nora and Mary Theresa of Ireland and her brother Tony of England. She was predeceased by her sister Bridget of England. She leaves many nieces and nephews.

Kathleen was a former member of St. John's Parish and the Ladies Auxiliary of the Ancient Order of Hibernians. She was known for her beautiful voice and would sing Irish rebel songs, traditional Irish songs as well as a Ballad about JFK's assassination. Kathleen cherished her trips back to Ireland to visit her family and she loved to go to the Irish dances in Boston and Worcester. She loved to cook and host family dinners. She also enjoyed needlepoint, crochet as well as spending time with her children and grandchildren.

She will be sadly missed by her family and everyone that knew her.

The funeral will be held on Friday, October 19th from Callahan Fay & Caswell Funeral Home, 61 Myrtle Street with a Mass of Christian Burial at 11:00 am at St. John's Church, 40 Temple Street. Burial will follow at St. John's Cemetery. Visiting hours to celebrate Kathleen's life will be held on Thursday from 5:00 until 7:00 pm at the funeral home.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Kathleen's memory may be made to St. John's Food for the Poor, 44 Temple Street, Worcester, MA 01604.