28 JANUARY 11, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Mary Audrey Gallagher, mother of Councilman Dromm, dies
Adzima Funeral Home
Richard · Matthew · Peter
50 Paradise Green Place · Stratford, Connecticut 06614
(203) 375-2200
Roy M. Miller, age 86, of Glendale, New
York, beloved husband of Margaret
Sweeney Miller, passed away on January
4, 2018 in Masonicare at Newtown. Roy,
a U.S. Army Veteran of the Korean War
was born on May 6, 1931 in Glendale,
NY to the late John and Viola (Moeller)
Miller and has been a lifelong Glendale
resident. He was retired from Ozone
Industry. Roy was an avid METS,
Rangers and WWE fan, enjoyed doing
handy work and was a member of the
Masonic Lodge in Bushwick. Survivors in
addition to his beloved wife of 60 years
include his devoted children, Kevin
Miller and his wife Catherine of Naugatuck, CT, Noreen Pantazis and her
husband John of Stratford, CT, Elaine Neretich and her husband Gregg of
Naugatuck, CT and Ellen Schmidt and her husband Michael of Stratford, CT,
11 grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren and several nieces and nephews. In
addition to his parents, Roy was pre-deceased by his brother Robert Miller and
his wife Lorraine. Funeral services will take place on Wednesday, January 10th
at 10:30 a.m. in the Adzima Funeral Home 50 Paradise Green Place Stratford.
Interment with full military honors will be in St. John’s Cemetery, Monroe.
Friends may visit with Roy’s family on Tuesday from 4-8 p.m. In lieu of flowers
those desiring may make donations in memory of Roy to the Alzheimer’s
Association 200 Executive Blvd
Southington, CT 06489 For more
information or to make an online
condolence, please visit
www.adzimafuneralhome.com
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Mary Audrey Gallagher, a
founding member of the
Queens chapter of Parents
and Friends of Lesbians and Gays
(PFLAG) and mother of Queens Councilman
Daniel Dromm, died on Jan. 4 from
a major heart attack. She was 85.
Gallagher, who grew up in Long Island
City and Rego Park, graduated from St.
John’s University with a degree in education,
according to a press release sent
by Dromm’s offi ce. Aft er teaching in city
public schools, she took time off to raise
her fi ve children, including Dromm who
was elected to City Council in 2009.
Dromm credited his mother with his
win and called her his Rose Kennedy,
referencing the mother of President
John F. Kennedy.
“My beautiful mother was my Rose Kennedy,”
Dromm said. “My mother knocked
on over 1,500 doors to help me get elected,
wrote a beautiful letter to seniors in the
district and was constantly seen campaigning
with me. Everywhere I went people
always asked me about my mother. I truly
believe she was the main reason I won.”
There will be a wake held today, Jan. 8,
from 3 to 8 p.m. at Conway Funeral Home
at 82-19 Northern Blvd. in Jackson Heights.
The Mass will be held at Blessed Sacrament
Church at 34-93 93 St. at 10 a.m. A private
cremation will take place thereafter.
Gallagher remained dedicated to
educating young people and founded a
nursery school aft er moving to Manhasset,
Long Island, with her family. She returned
to work aft er her children grew
older and became the director of several
city day care centers.
She was instrumental in helping to
unionize the directors and after her
second marriage, when she moved to Port
Jeff erson, Gallagher served as the president
of the Paraprofessionals Union. She
was able to secure a 72 percent pay raise
for paraprofessionals during her tenure.
In 1993, Gallagher began to champion
LGBT issues. Councilman Dromm, her
fi rst son, came out to his family when he
was 17 years old. But in 1992, Gallagher
came across an article outlining her
son’s support for the Children of the
Rainbow curriculum, which aimed to
teach children to respect the variety of
races, ethnicity and sexual orientation
of their classmates.
