WESTBOROUGH – Ida R. Galiardi of Westborough, MA, formerly of Wellesley, MA and Teaneck, NJ, on March 26 in her 105th year.
Beloved wife of the late Giocondo Gagliardi, loving mother of Laura Stettner and her husband Edward of Southborough, MA; grandmother of Victoria Sundgren and her husband Jan of Waltham, MA, Jeffrey Stettner and his wife Shannon of New York City, and Thomas Stettner of Newton, MA.
Beloved Gigi of great-grandchildren Zuzu, Max, and Jane. Also survived by many nieces and nephews. Cherished by care giver, Mercy Agyemang.
Ida was a strong yet caring force in the lives of those who loved her. Born of Scottish parents Richard and Annie Mary Ritchie, the youngest of seven siblings, she came to the United States from Belgium in 1913, and grew up in Jersey City. After several years working in New York, she was married in 1930 in Genoa to an American engineer who was working in Italy. Back in the US, she was a loving mother who was also a care giver to the generation before her.
Following the death of her husband, Gio, in 1979, she embarked on a new phase of life with several trips to Europe with her family. She moved to Wellesley in 1988 and to Westborough in 2003. She was enthusiastic about art and music and enjoyed concerts by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and visits to the Museum of Fine Arts. She was also an animal lover who told marvelous stories of all the family pets for the past 100 years.
A memorial service will be held at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Wellesley, MA on April 12 at 10 am. In lieu of flowers donations be made in her memory to the World Wildlife Fund at 1-800-CALL-WWF or www.worldwildlife.org or to Project Bread’s The Walk for Hunger at projectbread.org.
(Obituary courtesy of George F. Doherty & Sons Funeral Homes)
