Frederick Anthony Gallegos

Frederick Anthony Gallegos, beloved husband, father, grandfather, son, brother, and friend, passed away suddenly on Tuesday, February 24th, from cardiac arrest at his home in Fruita, Colorado. He was 63 years old.

Known to the people who loved him as Freddie, Fred (or Tony), Dad, Grandpa, GrandFred, and often “Big Head Fred,” he left this world the way he lived in it: doing something for the people he loved. In his final hours, he was quietly working on plans to create the perfect Neapolitan pizza, a special dinner he was preparing for his family, and had slipped outside to retrieve a secret delivery of pizza-making supplies when he collapsed. He felt no pain. He was happy. It was the perfect ending; it just came far too soon.

If Fred had to be described in a single word, it would be big. Big love. Big smile. Big laughs. Big heart. Big brain. Big hugs. Big messes. Big accidents. Everything Fred did was big, and everything he did was in service to the people he loved. He had a rare gift for making every person he spoke with feel important, seen, and understood, whether that was a cherished lifelong friend or someone he'd just met, occasionally immortalized in one of his spectacular AI portraits.

He was the husband who made love feel like a daily, deliberate choice, one he made for Cher, without fail, every single day they had together. He was the dad and grandpa who was never too busy, never too tired, and never anywhere he'd rather be than with his children and grandchildren. He was the older brother who wielded his bossiness and his braininess in equal measure, convinced that someone had to keep things in order, but always out of love and care. He was the son who made his momma breakfast every morning and kept her laughing with his silly dances. He was also the son who spent long, easy days fishing with his dad off the dock at the lake house. He never did out-fish him, but their conversations and laughter were all that mattered.

In his later years, Fred was working on something quieter and harder: loving more generously in moments of conflict, listening more deeply in moments of disagreement, choosing understanding over the need to be right. His life was better for it. And so were the lives of everyone around him.

He was preceded in death by his father, Lawrence Gallegos. He is survived by his wife, Cher; his mother, Annette; four daughters, Rebecca, Lauren, Jessie, and Anna; two step-children, Amanda and Derek; six grandchildren, Aiden, Zane, Zoey, Edwin, Rory, and Zeke; one bonus granddaughter, Ruby; his siblings, Christy (Tim), Lawrence (Stephanie), Allen (Iona), Heather (Dave), Monica (Chad); his dear longtime friends Mark, Gary, and Jon; and a large and loving extended family of aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews.

A celebration of Fred's life will be held on Friday, March 20th, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Byron R. White Club-South at Folsom Field, University of Colorado-Boulder. We will, of course, be serving Neapolitan pizza. Come as you are, dressed for comfort rather than formality, because Fred would have wanted it that way. CU gear is especially welcome in honor of his beloved Buffs. Parking (paid) is available at the Folsom Garage parking structure beneath the Indoor Practice Facility (2250 Stadium Drive, Boulder, CO).

To say we will miss him cannot begin to capture what it feels like with his bigness gone. We think he'd want us to take some of that bigness with us.