Sweet Lorraine

A dear friend of ours for over 40 years has died at the age of 85 from colon cancer. She had been diagnosed very recently, the second week of March, and was scheduled to undergo colostomy surgery on March 23rd, but the surgery was cancelled because she was too weak. She succumbed four days later. Her online obituary is here but I have reproduced it in full below:

Lorraine Gallucci
June 18, 1925 - March 27, 2011

Mrs. Lorraine E. Gallucci died Sunday, March 27, 2011, at Grady General Hospital in Cairo, Georgia. Her memorial service will be held Saturday, April 9, 2011, 10:00 a.m., at Cox-Ware Funeral Home Chapel. Rev. Steve Brooks and Dr. Jim Corcoran, officiating. The family will receive friends prior to the service, 9:00-10:00 a.m. Interment will be held in the Georgia Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Milledgeville, Georgia, on Monday, April 11.

Lorraine was born June 18, 1925 in Newark, New Jersey, to John J. and Elizabeth Wagner Corcoran. She married Rinaldo (Len) Gallucci, her husband of 65 years. Lorraine worked as the office manager of a dental firm for several years in Boca Raton, Florida. She and her husband were active in Special Force Family Ministries in Minnesota and Missouri and then moved to Bainbridge. She was an active member of Fellowship Baptist Church.

Lorraine is survived by her husband, Rinaldo (Len) Gallucci and her daughter, Valerie Jean Gallucci, both of Bainbridge, Georgia. One sister, Jacqueline Linville and husband Everett of Cornelius, North Carolina; her brother, Dr. Jim Corcoran and wife Christine of Marana, Arizona; one sister-in-law, Anella Burk of Towaco, New Jersey, several nieces, great-nieces, nephews, and great nephews. She was preceded in death by her son, Ronald Richard Gallucci, her brother, John J. Corcoran, Jr. and her sister, Elizabeth (Betty) Wagner Deck.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Hospice of Southwest Georgia, 1323 East Shotwell Street, Bainbridge, Georgia, 39819.

[end of obituary]

We have known many of Lorraine’s family quite well, starting with her parents, John and Betty Corcoran, who lived with Len and Lorraine for many years before their deaths. We also know, or knew, Everett and Jackie Linville and their daughters Cheryl, Darlene, and Karen; and Bill and Betty Wagner (an oddity: Betty’s mother, who had been Betty Wagner, married John Corcoran, and then their daughter, Betty Corcoran, married Bill Wagner, no relation) and their daughters Nancy and Patti. The three sisters -- Lorraine, Betty, and Jackie -- used to sing trios together in church when they were young. We also knew Len and Lorraine’s mentally-challenged son Ron (he had a happy laugh) who died in his fifties several years ago. We have visited with Len, Lorraine, Ron, and Valerie (who is also mentally challenged) many times over the years in Boynton Beach, Florida; Boca Raton, Florida; Ocala, Florida; Waconia, Minnesota; Ozark, Missouri; and Bainbridge, Georgia, and they have stayed with us on several occasions as well. Mrs. RWP and I have vacationed together with the Gallucci family more than once in Kissimmee, Florida. Many years ago Lorraine, Jackie, Everett, and I all sang in the same church choir in Boca Raton, and I accompanied the youth choir in which Jackie’s daughters Cheryl and Darlene sang. One Easter, I sang and played at a church in Coral Springs where Betty’s husband, Bill, was pastor. I guess what I’m trying to say is that our family has been intertwined with the Corcoran clan for a long time.

Next Friday Mrs. RWP and I will be driving to Bainbridge (about 300 miles away) to attend Lorraine’s memorial service on Saturday, where I will be playing the piano and singing. Last summer, while she was still healthy, Lorraine chose several songs to be sung or played at her funeral:

1. “Something Beautiful, Something Good” by Bill and Gloria Gaither
2. “My Tribute (To God Be The Glory)” by Andrae Crouch
3. “Through It All” by Andrae Crouch
4. “No One Understands Like Jesus” by John W. Peterson

We will miss Lorraine greatly. She was a dear friend. Len turned 88 on Groundhog Day and Valerie is now 53. Betty’s daughter, Nancy, who lives about a mile away from them, will be assuming responsibility for Valerie.

It is as if a member of our own family has died.