May Gallaway

May Gallaway, 94, of Park River, ND, passed away Tuesday, April 7, 2020, at Park River Good Samaritan Society in Park River.

May Bernice Olson was born May 30, 1925, in Milton, ND, to Peter and Tina (Miller) Olson. She married Melvin Gallaway, whom she was married to for 37 years prior to his death. May worked for Pillsbury Potato Company for 28 years until retiring and then ran a home daycare because she just loved children.  The ultimate love in her life was children – all the children in her family and anyone else’s that she could hold and hug. No matter where she went, she was like a magnet for children. May also loved music and any concert that she could attend. The church services at the Good Sam were some of her favorite times. She also enjoyed dancing wherever family would take her. Anyone that knew her also knew that her favorite color was lime green. No one ever went on a vacation without her as traveling was more important to her than cooking a meal, her famous words were ‘as long as I don’t have to cook it’.

On November 8, 2016, May moved into her new home at the Good Samaritan Society in Park River, ND, where she resided until her passing due to dementia. At her new home, she made many new friends that she called family and loved each one. She would often say, “Can’t I live here, it is so beautiful.” Prior to living in the Good Samaritan Center, she also lived in Grand Forks and Bismarck.

Surviving May are her children: Judith Johnson of Grand Forks, ND, Bonnie (Francis) Jelinek of Pisek, ND, Mel (Jennifer) Gallaway of Bismarck, ND, and Marge (Larry) Goethe of Mandan, ND; 11 grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; 10 great-great grandchildren; her sister, Mary Ester (Hal) Boyd; and 12 nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband Melvin; son-in-law Royal Johnson; grandsons Baby Erik and Jason, granddaughter Baby Jade; and siblings: Pearl (Morris) Stokke, Ted (Roseanne) Olson, Ella (Joe) Kram, Ann Olson, John (Peggy) Olson, and Peter Olson.

A memorial service will be held at a later date with inurnment at Vang Cemetery, rural Langdon.