Virginia Galle

1925 - 2020

Virginia Galle

Former Seattle City Council-member Virginia Galle passed away on September 13, 2020 after being afflicted with Alzheimer's Disease for much of the past decade.

Virginia was born to Salvation Army officers in 1925 in a coal company town in West Virginia. Beginning in 1930, her family was stationed in various towns throughout the upper Midwest, and in that time she went to eleven different schools. She also became an accomplished self-taught piano / organ accompanist, depending on what sort of keyboard was available for her parents' services - with a wide repertoire of popular music on the side for other occasions. She could sight-read any sheet of popular music put in front of her at the piano.

She moved to Kansas during her senior year in high school, where in one classroom she was seated across the aisle from a friendly guy named Kurt Galle. In three years, Virginia graduated from Baker University in Baldwin, Kansas as Kurt graduated from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. They married in the summer of 1946, then Kurt returned to Purdue for graduate school while Virginia briefly taught high school English in Baldwin. Upon rejoining Kurt in Indiana, she worked as a librarian. Following Kurt's doctoral dissertation, he was recruited by Boeing and they moved to Seattle in 1951, living in a rental for two years before buying a house in Seattle's Wedgwood neighborhood - at which point Virginia declared "I'm not moving again!" As it turned out, she was right.

During her successful career as a cheerful and energetic domestic engineer (including but not limited to den mothering, camping, beachcombing, skiing, etc), she was involved in her community from the beginning. When a school levy failed and kindergarten was cancelled for a year in the 1950s, she helped organize a volunteer-based kindergarten for Wedgwood Elementary School. When the Navy's Shearwater housing project was demolished in the '60s, she worked to ensure that a new school and public space were included for the area, along with the new housing desired by developers. While her sons were in middle school, she considered what she wanted to do once the nest was empty, then enrolled at the Graduate School of Public Affairs at the UW. At the time it was very unusual for a woman to leave her home duties to start a new career, but with the strong support of GSPA Dean Brewster Denny, Virginia's Masters thesis was based on her work with the King County Freeholders in the development of the home rule county charter that we have today.

She then accepted a position at the City of Seattle's newly-created Citizen's Service Bureau, designed to be a one-stop information and complaint desk for all City services. She rose to eventually manage that office before being appointed as the first female City department head ever, of the newly-created Department of Licenses and Consumer Affairs, linking consumer protections to business practices in Seattle. There she did her job too well, forcing the forfeiture of the performance bond of a business owned by a supporter of the mayor who had appointed her. She refused to resign when asked to do so, and she was noisily fired, which created a bit of an uproar at the time.

Following her dismissal, she was hired as Executive Director of the Totem Girl Scout Council, with a distinct change of pace from city government work, as she began planning to run for a seat on the Seattle City Council. In 1981 she left the Scouts to campaign full time. That year she won both the primary and general elections, and was easily reelected in 1985. As with her previous position in city government, she loved her work, including evening meetings on many nights, either in Council chambers or in the community - she wanted to hear what people were thinking. She also wanted to be sure that all City employees, including those stationed outside Seattle, were recognized for their contributions. Her work during her two terms on the Council included efforts to be sure that all citizens were treated equitably regardless of race, sex, and sexual orientation, a view which wasn't appreciated by some of her constituents. She also emphatically rejected partisan meddling in Seattle's non-partisan political structure. As a result, she was narrowly defeated in a quest for a third Council term in 1989, and Kurt had a regular dinner partner once more.

In her 'retirement' she served as a board member of the Northwest Kidney Foundation and KUOW radio, and was frequently sought as a source of information by others wanting to get involved in city government, which she actively shared along with a good dose of encouragement. She also was able to travel with Kurt to Europe and Canada numerous times.

One of Virginia's favorite expressions was "Aren't we having fun!" In fact, sometimes it seemed like we were having too much fun. Life with Virginia was a lot of fun.

In her 80's Virginia was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease, and her family made every effort to care for her at home in Wedgwood until the end. All through her Alzheimer's years she maintained her cheerful disposition most of the time. We treasured every single day she was with us.

In lieu of flowers, remembrances are suggested to the Northwest Kidney Foundation and the Nature Conservancy.

Please sign Virginia's online Guest Book at www.Legacy.com