Marilyn A Galley

Marilyn A Galley, 84, of Rock Island, IL, passed away the morning of Monday, August 20, 2018, at Silver Cross Pavilion at Friendship Manor. Visitation will be Thursday, August 23 rd , from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m., at Wendt Funeral Home, Moline. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Alzheimer’s Association at act.alz.org/donate, to the Kalona Historical Society, 715 D Avenue, Kalona, IA 52247, (319) 656-3232, [email protected] , or to the Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center at https://www.augustana.net/swenson-center-online-payments . Marilyn was born in Moline on March 9 th , 1934, to Carl and Ethel (Hertzman) Hoaglund.  She married Cyrus A. Galley on December 20, 1959, at Bethel Methodist Church in Moline.  She and Cy had two children, Nancy and Steve. Marilyn graduated from Moline High School in June of 1951, and earned her Registered Nurse Diploma from Passavant Memorial Hospital in 1954.  Her nursing career included time as a well-regarded surgical scrub nurse and as an industrial nurse for both Automatic Electric in Chicago and Alcoa in Davenport.  Her cool head made her a natural for these daunting assignments.  She was also a dedicated “swim team” parent, taking her kids to early morning practices and traveling all over the mid-west for swim meets in all types of weather. Marilyn was a long-serving Treasurer of the Rock Island County Woman’s Club and the American Friends of the Emigrant Institute of Vaxjo, Sweden.  She earned her private pilot’s license soon after her husband did, and was part-owner and President of the 47Jj’s Flying Club. Marilyn’s true passion was quilts and quilt collecting.  She was a charter member of the Mississippi Valley Quilters Guild, which was founded in 1983.  She constructed many quilts over the course of her lifetime, each an example of precision cutting, construction and hand-quilting.  She won multiple awards for her skill, once placing third in an American Quilting Society national show in the hand-quilting category.  She was also a diligent collector of antique quilts, with a collection of over 100 quilts, with some dating back to as early as 1830.  She and fellow collectors established a quilt study group at the Kalona Historical Society in Kalona, IA.  Several of her most spectacular antique quilts have been bequeathed to their collection for the enjoyment of other quilt aficionados. In addition to her husband, Cyrus, survivors include a daughter, Nancy Galley (Shannon Spires) Holt of Sandia Park, NM; a son, Steven (Marie) W. Galley of St. Charles, MO; grandchildren, Jessie and 1 st Lt Kristen Hole, USAF, and Laura and Michael Quinonez; great-grandchild, Guiliana; and a sister, Emily (Dale) Anderson of Libertyville, IL. She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother, Charles R. Hoaglund, and an infant sister, Jean Elizabeth Hoaglund.

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