Avon Obituary: Angelo Galiette, 94

Angelo John Galiette, 94, of Avon, passed away on July 31, 2018.

Angelo was born in Southington on December 7, 1923 to the late Andrew and Anna (Carbone) Galiette, who had emigrated from the Naples-Benevento region of southern Italy. For over 71 years, Angelo was the devoted and loving husband of Claire Galiette, who passed away on February 7, 2018. Angelo’s six siblings also predeceased him: Silvio Galiette, Andrew Galiette, John Galiette, Margaret Galiette Metropolis, Antoinette Galiette Nevelos, and Olga Galiette Mongillo.

We believe that Angelo was a poster boy for “The Greatest Generation” honored in the eponymous book by Tom Brokaw - the men and women who survived the Great Depression, won World War II, and returned home to build modern America. The Great Depression and pre-World War II circumstances shaped Angelo’s childhood and adolescence and planted in him diligence, sacrifice, generosity, and inclusion - values that he personified as an adult.

He often told his family three stories that revealed his fairness, likability, and optimism. The Galiette family employed workers on the farm on which they were tenants. Five-year-old Angelo collected eggs and delivered sandwiches that his mother made for his father and his workers. He asked her which sandwich was for his father and which sandwiches were for the workers. She replied, “They are all the same. Always treat people as equals.” And he always did.

Knowing Angelo’s naturally friendly nature, his fifth grade teacher assigned him to be the partner for a new boy in school - a refugee from Eastern Europe. As Angelo started to introduce himself, the new boy interrupted and said, “I will call you ‘Bob,’ like my friend back home.” This nickname endured for the rest of his life.

As a grandfather, he adopted the names “G.G.,” “Poppy,” and “Grandpa G.G.” By any name, he had an innate ability to welcome strangers and extend unconditional kindness.

Angelo was a good athlete. When he was in ninth grade, the Lewis High School baseball coach visited his father to ask if he would allow Angelo to play third base. His father needed him to work on the farm after school and regretted he could not give him the time off. Angelo later told us that this was one of the saddest moments of his life, but that he understood his family’s economic circumstances at the time.

His faithful optimism was rewarded. Although he had to forego playing baseball as a child during the Depression, as a father, he proudly watched his son Mark play third base. Angelo and Claire met as teenagers at a fife and drum corps meet in Plainville.

Angelo turned 18 years old on December 7, 1941, the day that Pearl Harbor was bombed. He immediately enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps, even before he could graduate from high school. Angelo and Claire corresponded during his long deployment in the Pacific Theater.

He was assigned as a tail gunner to the Fifth Air Force’s 312 Bombardment Group, 389th Bombardment Squadron where he attained the rank of Sergeant. His squadron trained in Texas, and then was shipped to New Guinea (Hollandia) in 1943, then the Philippines (Leyte, Mindoro, and Luzon) in 1944. Angelo was on Okinawa in mid-1945, preparing for the invasion of Japan, when the war ended.

The 389th Bombardment Squadron’s primary aircraft was the Douglas A-20 Havoc, which they would fly at very low altitude, even treetop level. Angelo flew on 20 dangerous missions. The A-20 was known to be very strong and reliable, just like Angelo. The 389th earned the Distinguished Unit Citation and The Philippines Presidential Citation.

In the post-war years, Angelo corresponded with many of his squadron mates including Ray Marshall, Bill Mason, George Biederman, and Dr. John Hartle. They and others named Angelo as their special friend in their own obituaries.

Angelo and Claire were married on October 26, 1946 at St. Mary’s Church in New Britain. They raised three children, Claudia, Paula, and Mark, in Wethersfield and Avon, where they moved in 1959. Angelo trained in hairdressing and cosmetology and, with Claire, owned and operated several beauty salons in West Hartford and Avon, including the Carriage House of Avon. Together they developed many loyal customers who became friends.

He was president of the Connecticut Hairdressers Credit Union from 1967 to 1977, and was the 1975 Connecticut Hairdressers and Cosmetologists Man of the Year. He worked long hours to provide his children with many educational and recreational activities.

He also learned and excelled at golf and formed many lasting friendships this way. His short game was awesome. Angelo and Claire were longstanding members of the Golf Club of Avon.

Angelo devoted much of his time to civic activity and was especially committed to fundraising for veterans and members of the Avon community as a leader in the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Gildo Consolini Post 3272 and in the Avon Chapter of UNICO National. He was a top poppy seller for the VFW’s annual Memorial Day poppy drive. His VFW peers recognized his gentle manner and he was named Post Chaplain. He was named the “Mike Anstey Veteran of the Year” in 2011.

In 2010, he received an Exemplary Courage, Service and Patriotism Award from Connecticut Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz. As a member of Avon UNICO, he worked tirelessly to raise scholarship funds. He chaired UNICO’s Avon Citizen of the Year selection committee to recognize community members worthy of the award and of Avon’s gratitude.

He was honored to be presented with the Avon Quiet Hero Award at a surprise dinner and ceremony in 2016. Angelo and Claire cultivated their strong, lifelong Catholic faith. As communicants of the Church of St. Ann in Avon since 1959, they held a particular devotion to the Holy Rosary.

Beginning five years ago, when Claire sustained stroke-related injuries, Angelo provided her with exquisite care at every step. Stoically, he never complained about his own medical struggles. Except when our mother died in February, we rarely saw him cry. Three exceptions were when he spoke of his sister Olga, his brother Silvio, and his squadron-mate Sgt. Joseph T. Orinko, who died in the war in a plane crash on a mission to which Angelo had originally been assigned. He wondered why all three had died so young and not he. We believe that God had plans for him.

Angelo leaves his son Mark Galiette and his wife Carolyn (Wilcox) Galiette of Avon; his daughter Paula Galiette Albertsson of Dorset, VT; and his daughter Claudia Galiette Flannery and her husband Bernard Flannery of New Hartford. He is also survived by many dear nieces and nephews, especially Joe Galiette of Simsbury. Angelo was exceptionally proud of his six grandchildren: Johanna Albertsson of Culver City, CA; Anders Albertsson of Denver, CO; Ethan Galiette of New York, NY; Claire Galiette of Cleveland, OH; James Flannery of Boston, MA; and Erin Flannery Keith and her husband Brent Keith of Washington, D.C.

He delighted in his family’s many accomplishments and was faithfully present at their life milestones, large and small. In May, Angelo welcomed and bonded with his first great-grandchild, Conor Keith.

Angelo’s family thanks the Galiettes’ Avon neighbors, Mark and Robin McGuire and their children, for their thoughtful assistance over many years; the members of the Avon VFW Post 3272 and Avon UNICO for their long friendships with and reverence of Angelo; and his caregivers Suzzanne Quick, Christine Goewey, and the staff in St. Francis Hospital’s Congestive Heart Failure unit and Cherry Brook Health Center for caring for him in a dignified and sensitive way.

The family will receive guests on Sunday, August 5, 2018 from 4pm to 7pm at Carmon Funeral Home, 301 Country Club Road, Avon. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Monday, August 6, 2018 at 10am at the Church of St. Ann, 289 Arch Road, Avon.

In lieu of flowers, Angelo’s family would be grateful for memorial donations to the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3272 of Avon c/o P.O. Box 297, Avon, CT 06001, or to the Avon UNICO Chapter Scholarship Fund c/o P.O. Box 1442, Avon, CT 06001.