Joan Galda
Our mom Joan Galda was born in eastern Pennsylvania in 1925 to a family with roots in America dating from the 1600s. She lived in the town of Jessup through elementary school and then moved to Detroit during the Great Depression. After graduating high school she attended business school and worked for some of the city's most prominent architecture and engineering firms. It was in Detroit where she met and later married our dad Edward Galda who worked as an illustrator after serving in the US Navy during WWII and attending art school. Over the next eleven years they moved from Detroit to Denver and finally settled in Phoenix where they raised five children. Our dad has now passed on but mom still lives in Phoenix where she can visit with her children and be near her six grandchildren and new great-grandson. While we were growing up our mom took care of us looked after our grandparents kept up the home and managed the family budget and investments. She helped us with homework taught us the joy of learning and encouraged us to be ourselves and follow our dreams. She took us to the library every Saturday and to church on Sunday. She made us wear "sensible" shoes taught us manners and morals that have seen us through and never spoiled us. Through her gift as a master story teller she shared life's lessons and passed on our family history. To this day we remain a close family and we owe everything that we are to our mom and dad. As the children of Joan Galda we realize how being a successful wife and mother is truly an enormous accomplishment. We are deeply grateful for all of her dedication and sacrifice her choice to be a stay-at-home mom and her continued teaching inspiration and active participation in all of our lives. Thanks Mom!