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Marian Gallen Burns

@maryelen71

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We lost our Queen of Ireland ♥️ Born Mary Bennett, Carmel Gallen to many, Mela to most, passed away yesterday at the glorious age of 96 (nearly 97 next month).

She was born a twin, one of 11, in the tiny town of Kiltyclogher, in the tiniest of counties in Ireland 🇮🇪, lovely Leitrim. She once told me she dreamed of being an actress. But sometime in the late 1940s, she met my grandfather, Paddy Gallen, and fell in love- as many do - at the Rainbow Ballroom in Glenfarne.

In 1954, with two young children, she immigrated to the United States and settled in the Bronx, where Paddy, a trained tailor, moonlighted as a Super, then a travel agent — and they had three more children. She missed Ireland terribly, so when Grandpa got a job with TWA, and they went home every summer for the next 17 years.

As many will know, Mela was a fancy lady — never without her hair in a perfect bouffant, a ring on every finger, and at least three bracelets.

She went to church every day, sometimes twice, and undertook regular Novenas for each of her 14 grandchildren - and now many more great-grandchildren.

Growing up just down the block from her in Woodlawn, one could always find her sitting on the bench in front of the Irish bakery with her neighborhood gang.

She was a devout Catholic, deeply compassionate, and the kind that loved an irreverent joke. It was my life’s mission to make her cackle.

She was the last of her bunch Earthside, now joining Paddy, her beloved son Eugene, her brothers and sisters, and so many dear dear friends, no doubt holding a spot open on the bench for her.

Rest easy, Mela. May we all live with compassion and grace. You were one of a kind. ☘️ by @maryelen71

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by @maryelen71

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