W
altham – Lieutenant (JG) Irene B. Gailius, USA (Ret.), BSN, RN, peacefully entered into eternal rest at her residence on Wednesday, April 17, 2019, fittingly during Holy Week. She was 89.
Irene was born in Westfield, Massachusetts on September 14, 1929, and was the eldest daughter of thirteen born to the late Richard and Bernice Bovat. She went on to graduate from Westfield High School with class of 47′ and then to Sister’s Hospital in Waterville, Maine to study nursing. After graduating with an RN in 1950, Irene’s caregiving career began as a neuro-surgical nurse at Boston City Hospital.
Irene joined the Navy in 1956 as an officer and treated soldiers’ traumatic injuries, stationed at the Chelsea Naval Hospital. She served for two years during which she met her soon to be husband, Arthur, through her best friend and fellow nurse, Vivian Gailius. The couple married in 1954 and had four daughters together before Irene returned to nursing and her many interests. She obtained her Associates Degree in Nursing from MBCC in 1972 through the GI Bill while managing four little ones at home, and then attained her BS in Nursing from Worcester State in 1978. Throughout this time she continued to work private duty and hospice nursing and even had a few notable cases, such as the famous animal sculptor Katharine Weems, and Freud’s student colleague Helena Deutsch.
Dedicated to women’s research, Irene was an original member of the Nurses’ Health Study in 1976. She was also a lifetime member of the Navy Nurse Corps Association. As time went on, she became interested in holistic healing and health, and developed her own anti-cancer diet, which she stuck to faithfully and shared generously with friends and family. Irene had many skills including gardening with “magic soil” she cultivated from local farms, which regularly produced vegetables over a foot long. She also had her own silk flower and tree business for a time. She loved family gatherings, polka dancing and travelling, and had a weekly commitment to the dear friends she made at her bowling league who appointed her treasurer. She was a dedicated Catholic and member of St. Mary Parish. She enjoyed doing the rosary every day and being a eucharistic minister for many years
Wife of the late Col. Arthur V. Gailius. (February 16, 2014) she leaves her children, Suzanne Alter (Robert) of Dunstable, Sandra J. Gailius-Garman (Dr. Richard Garman) of Natick, Sharon I. DiCicco (Stephen) and Sheila V. Brennan (Kevin) all of Waltham; her grandchildren Rachel and Sarah Garman, Dante and Dominic DiCicco and Hailey and Cole Brennan; her siblings, Paul Bovat (Doraleen), Robert Bovat (Sandy), Muriel Nihill (Gary), Doris Bonkowski (late Joseph), all of Westfield and Alice Latrell (Ted) Belchertown and the late Francis, Ray, Donald, Richard, Albert, Clifford Bovat and Jean (Bovat) Parker.
Family and friends will honor and remember Irene’s life by gathering for calling hours in The Joyce Funeral Home, 245 Main Street (Rte. 20), Waltham on Friday, April 26th from 4 to 8 p.m. and again at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning before leaving in procession to Saint Mary’s Church 133 School Street, Waltham where her Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Burial with military honors will follow in Mount Feake Cemetery, Waltham.
Memorial donations may be made to Saint Mary’s Parish, 133 School Street, Waltham, MA 02451 or VNA Care Hospice, 100 Trade Center #G-500, Woburn, MA 01801.
