Mary Ellen Gallup

Mary Gallup passed on June 14, 2025 in Grover Beach, California - twelve days before her 100th birthday. She was born in San Diego, California.

Mary is preceded in death by her husband, Avery Gallup, and three of her six children - Laura Lee Gallup, James Gallup, and Marie Murphy. She is survived by two sons, Richard and Steven Gallup, and daughter Roxanne Gallup as well as four grandchildren and one great grandchild.

Mary met her husband, Avery, one day when he walked into the Mission Florist where she was working. That evening she told her mom she had met the man she would marry. Avery and Mary married shortly after and eventually settled in San Diego, California.

Together, Mary and Avery planned and landscaped two homes. The only requirement she had before they started the second one was that it had to have a finished kitchen before they moved in with their growing family. After her children were grown, she would recall with a smile that one of her fondest memories during those early years was the day she threw out the diaper pail.

Mary was known as Mommie, Nana, Mother Gallup, and Back Up Mom. She embraced her role as mother and caregiver. True to her nurturing spirit, she tended her children and family with love and support. On sweltering summer days, she herded her young children into the old blue station wagon and headed to the beach. The car was stuffed with rubber rafts, boogie boards, pails, shovels, a brimming ice chest, and any additional children who wanted to come along. Mary spent the day sitting on the sand counting heads as they bobbed up and down in the surf at Mission Beach.

Mary had a wry sense of humor. One day one of her children asked to bring home a stray cat that wandered into the classroom every day to sleep on a student desk. The teacher had finally commented that somebody needed to adopt that cat. Mary wrote a note to the teacher the next morning saying that the Gallup family would love to adopt the cat - it would fit right in with the other cats, dog, snakes, turtle, rabbit, mice, lizards, crawdads, and fish currently in residence. Jinx the cat had a very good life after that.

Mary was an avid moviegoer and looked forward to watching all the academy award nominations each year. Quite late one evening, she was watching a movie on TV with her daughter and son-in-law. Upon seeing Harvey Keitel stroll onto the screen presenting a full frontal nude, she sat up very straight, grinned, and commented, "Well! We'll have to get to the bottom of this!"

Mary loved to laugh, travel, read, sew, and most of all spend time in the garden. She never met a plant she didn't like, although she was particularly fond of the Euphorbia family. Roses and bonsai held a special place in her heart. While her husband, Avery, enjoyed growing vegetables and tending trees. Mary loved growing flowers... she always said flowers are food for the soul.

Please honor Mary's life by planting something - be it flower, tree, or act of kindness.

Forever in Our Hearts and Souls

"So, let us all be gardeners fair,

And tend to life with love and care,

And watch the seeds we plant come through,

To bloom and flourish, strong and true."

by Mark Gregory