Donald R. Galletly, Jr., of Wayne, PA, passed away on April 16, 2026. Don is survived by his devoted and beloved wife, Kate; his two daughters and their spouses, Patrice and Jonny Heins, and Barbara and Grant Passmore; and his six grandchildren, Henry, Evelyn, and Lydia Heins, and Ines, Ondine, and Lucie Passmore. He is also survived by his siblings, Molly Maguire, Tom McMahon (Hilary), and Mimi McMahon-Melo (Frank). He is predeceased by his mother, Barbara, his father, Don Galletly, Senior, who died during Don's infancy, his second father, Tom McMahon, and his older sister, Susan Galletly.

A memorial will be scheduled for the summer, with details shared later.

In lieu of flowers, donations to the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration or the Brain Support Network would be greatly appreciated by his family.

A Life Well-Lived

Don was born in New York City on July 5, 1951, as the fireworks faded over Manhattan. His father, Don Sr., served as a Navy pilot and was a reporter for the New York Daily News. Don would inherit his father's passion to write and the ability to light up a room. His mother, Barbara, was an American Airlines flight attendant, from whom he inherited wit, curiosity, and a sense of adventure. They moved briefly to San Diego, California, whereupon Don Senior was tragically killed during a flight training mission.

Following Don Sr.'s death, Barbara moved the family back to New York and ultimately began dating a childhood friend. She subsequently married him, Tom McMahon, Senior, who became 3-year-old Donny's devoted and loving father. The family would grow in Rockville Center to include Molly, Tom, Jr., and Mimi. Family traditions emerged, one of which was travel abroad. From an early age, Donny and his siblings were eager adventurers. His treasured memories included a trip to Morocco where little Mimi tried to perform a belly dance, a beautiful home in La Storta, Italy, just outside of Rome where the family summered one year, and there was an Italian chef named Eva who every night before dinner would call out, almost sing "Donny… a mangiare!", and a magical Christmas spent in Zermatt, Switzerland, where Don would return with Kate many years later. Sadly, Don's sister Susan, who suffered from multiple disabilities, died at the age of 13. Despite more tragedy, the family never ceased to celebrate, appreciate, and love life.

Don and Tom became excellent pranksters, much to their mother's chagrin. Don attended Chaminade High School, where he excelled at his studies, football, and making friends. Don indeed excelled at every sport he tried, particularly baseball in his youth, football in high school, ocean lifeguarding at the Atlantic Beach Club during summers, and soccer in college. It was at Williams College, where he studied history, that he became a key player on the highly competitive NCAA Division III soccer team. There Don also made lifelong friends with whom he shared a love of the great outdoors, canoeing trips, mountain climbing, hiking, and testing Orvis equipment.

After graduating from Williams College in 1973, Don spent a year working for Tauck Tours, mostly on the Gaspé Peninsula along the Gulf of the St. Lawrence, where he charmed his mostly elderly female passengers with tales of Gagnon the Moosecallèr, garnering him tremendous tips. He earned enough to spend the following year touring Europe in his new Fiat.

Upon his return to New York, Don became the director of beverages at the Plaza Hotel. Family friends Susan and Bruce McAllister (Bruce happened to be Kate's uncle) planned Don's introduction to his future wife, Kate Guiney. The couple met in November of 1974, were engaged the following May, and married at Infant Jesus Roman Catholic Church in Port Jefferson, New York, on August 23, 1975. Their reception was held in Belle Terre, where the pair had unknowingly first met on the beach in diapers twenty years prior. As a married man, Don became an avid golfer. Kate could never deny him a Saturday round, as he often played with her father.

The couple temporarily relocated from New York to Philadelphia, and Don earned his MBA at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. After graduation, he accepted a position at CBS Records. During his tenure there, he and Kate spent two enchanted years in London. Upon their return to New York in 1980, he hobnobbed with CBS-contracted celebrities like Benji, Mel Tormé, Janice Ian, and Aerosmith.

Within a year, Don was recruited for a position in investor relations, where he would spend the remainder of his career. He excelled in his new field, but nothing delighted him more than fatherhood. First came the birth of his daughter Barbara in 1983. In 1984, the family moved from New York City to Manhasset, and their second daughter, Patrice, was born in 1985.

Don also acquired five brothers-in-law, and the gang affectionately called themselves "the outlaws." He continued to play golf and, with his younger brother Tom, won multiple member-guest tournaments at their home course, Westhampton Beach Country Club. Don's nephews Tommy and Michael were their favorite caddies.

After years with CBS, he joined News Corporation. Those years were full of international travel with long stints in London, Australia, and Hong Kong. He flew on the Concorde and on Rupert Murdoch's private plane. However glamorous, the travel prevented him from spending as much time with his family as he would have liked, and he was eager to accept a new position in Dallas at Dresser Industries that would allow him to focus on spending quality time at home. In August 1990, Don picked his girls up at the airport and drove them to the scenic White Rock Lake (which, unfortunately, had dried up for the season). Despite the tearful and dramatic arrival, Dallas became a happy home for all four.

On weekends in Dallas, Don took on soccer and softball coaching gigs and led camping trips, during which he earned the nickname "Crack of Don" for always being the first up in the morning. He kept playing golf and continued to develop lasting friendships on the links. He enjoyed several golf excursions with his father, brother, and nephews, and attended the Masters with his cousins Pete and Bobby. His sister Mimi also joined the family in the Big D, bringing even more great laughter and joy to their home.

Weekdays, Don's responsibilities grew at Dresser where he had become Vice President of Communications and Investor Relations.  He crafted the company's corporate image and marketing efforts, and was beloved by his team. When Dresser was acquired by Halliburton in 1998, Don and his three girls moved once again, this time to Houston for his new position at Weatherford International.

The Houston years were marked by a resumption of extensive international travel, this time primarily to Scandinavia, Scotland, and the Middle East. Don also happily joined Braeburn Country Club, where he introduced his daughters to golf, although he secretly suspected that what they liked best about their rounds together was driving the golf carts.

The girls grew up, and the couple celebrated their 25th anniversary in Hawaii. The four Galletlys, along with Don's parents, also spent two memorable weeks on a cruise of the Baltic Sea, during which they attended a symphony at the Hermitage in St. Petersburg and a Ray Charles concert at Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen. Upon their return, Barbara went off to college, and Patrice met her future husband, Jonny, the first of two top-notch sons-in-law. High school and college graduations followed.

When Don had the opportunity to retire from Weatherford, he asked his bride what she'd like to do next. She responded, "don't ask the question if you don't want to hear my answer." At that point, they moved back east and created a home in Wayne, Pennsylvania, fondly called Wayne Manor that would soon enough be filled with the voices of their nieces and nephews, Kate's mother and five sisters, and the outlaws. Don hosted a hog roast in honor of his godson Tommy's graduation from Wharton. The early 2000s saw great times and great friendships blossom at St. David's Golf Club and at Devine + Partners, where Don worked for his brother-in-law, Jay, as a consultant. In 2010 Don and Kate visited Patrice and Jonny in New Orleans, where Jonny successfully proposed to Patrice. A beautiful wedding in Houston followed.

It was at Kate's 60th birthday party ("Spicing up Sixty") at Wayne Manor that the family first met Grant, whom Barbara would soon marry - much to everyone's relief (and joy). To no one's surprise, their wedding took place in Philadelphia during winter storm Hercules. It was in Wayne where Don taught Jonny and Grant his legendary grilling techniques, ensuring perfect steaks would continue to feed the next generations.

In August of 2013, Don and Kate became grandparents to Henry Heins, Patrice and Jonny's first baby. Don became "Dude," which all agreed was the perfect grandfather name for him. Dude and Lady (his perfectly named partner) were so devoted to the task that they bought a townhouse in Houston in order to be near their Texas-based children and grandchildren. They were there for the birth of Evelyn Heins in 2015, and then hopped on a plane to London to welcome Barbara and Grant's daughter, Ines Passmore, in June. In 2017, Lydia Heins and Ondine Passmore joined the bunch. In August 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, he drove from Houston to Austin just to hold his newborn granddaughter, Lucie Passmore, and then drove home.

A beloved and devoted son, brother, husband, father, and grandfather to the end, Dude fell noticeably ill in the early 2020s and was diagnosed with a particularly cruel form of dementia in 2023. Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) attacks and agitates a healthy brain, diminishing impulse control and impairing the ability to communicate - two of Don's strongest traits. Through this process, Kate cared for him faithfully at Wayne Manor until 2025, when he became too ill to live with her at home, and subsequently went to Arden Courts in King of Prussia, where she visited him every day.

Don's dying wishes included joy and love for his family as well as to donate his brain to science, so that research might spare other families in the future some of the pain he has endured. The entire family, but especially Kate, would like to thank Arden Courts (King of Prussia), the Brain Support Network, the Penn Memory Center at the University of Pennsylvania Health System, and the Brain Donation Program, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, for supporting us through Don's final months, days, and hours, and for helping ensure that Don's experience, medical records, and even his brain have the opportunity to help others in the future. Don made some of the most meaningful friendships of his life at Arden Courts, even after he was unable to speak, and for that, his family is eternally grateful.

Don was known for his love of family and friends, his smile, his story telling, amazing generosity, wisdom, sharp wit, and even sharper advice. A celebration of his remarkable life will be scheduled for the summer, with details to follow. Again, in lieu of flowers, donations to the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration or the Brain Support Network would be greatly appreciated by his family.

Thoughts from Don's brother Tom

Donny was an older brother to 3 siblings who were 3, 5 and 6 years his junior. As kids we grew up idolizing him. He was inclusive, smart and athletic. He was also brutally handsome with a chiseled body. His physique benefited from his passion for sports and the outdoors.

He starred as a high school football running back, delivering vicious blows to would-be tacklers. He was a college athlete, competing on the soccer pitch for 4 years. He skied every winter and summered as a lifeguard and as a ranch hand herding cattle, high school through college. He excelled as a student at every level including as an MBA graduate from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. But what stands out to me most about my brother is how he always included me in his life despite our 5 year age difference. My earliest memory of Donny is of us playing tackle football on my parent's bed. I was probably 5 or 6 and we went at it, well, at least I did. He probably held something back.

When he had friends over, which was often, he had no problem if I came into his room and hung out. When he went away to Williams College I would visit and he introduced me to his friends and the 25 cent beer machine. When I went to boarding school at the Lawrenceville School, he would make the trip from New York City to make it to my football games. He and I tooled around France in the summer of 1971, when he was 19 and I was 14. What 19 year old wants to hangout with a 14 year old? He never treated me like a little kid, he treated me like the best friend I had become. By the late 1970's we were both working but made time to talk on the phone every day. When I moved to California he would visit often. We played in each other's member-guest golf tournaments and have at least 4 championship bowls that I can remember to show for it.

For my 40th birthday we took a golf trip to southwest Ireland. I was in charge of making the tee times at various courses and he was responsible for finding lodgings. We arrived in Shannon and drove directly to our hotel in Killarney. We arrived to discover it was an all-inclusive resort for families with kids under 10. Donny had booked it for our week in Ireland. We sat down to process this development and decided instead to go play golf, which we did at the Killarney Killen Golf Club. By the time we got back to the hotel around 10pm (it was still light out) the kitchen was closed. Somehow, we managed to scrape up some food and decided we needed to reconsider our lodgings. The next morning we headed out with my tee times sheet and all our luggage. We would just wing it when it came to where we would sleep.

We headed to Lahinch for our 1st scheduled round of golf, according to my tee sheet. When we got there, they had no reservation in my name but suggested we go to the first tee and check with the starter. We did as we were advised. We told him we were in luck because a twosome was a no show and we could tee off immediately. We ditched the tee sheet I had made and now would wing our starting times as well as our lodgings. Every day after a round we'd drive to the town that had the golf course we wanted to play and we would check out the various hotels, looking for the best bargain. Then we'd go to the course and hope that the starter could get our twosome out. Every town we went to, we enjoyed great comfort and food. Every course we played, we enjoyed some of the best golf experiences of our lives. Town after town, for 6 days. Don would drive (on the wrong side of the road) and I would be the passenger on the lookout for a pub to stop for a pint.

With my sharp eyes I was able to spot many pubs in which we would enjoy meeting the local people, many of whom were McMahon's, likely long-lost relatives. It was truly a magical week; everything just fell into place despite our ineptness in planning. Even the weather was unbelievable, 75 and sunny with little wind the entire time. I mean no disrespect to my wife and kids, but 30 years later and with multiple trips around the world, it remains the best trip I've ever been on.

As my boys grew older, the 4 of us would take golf trips together including to Pebble Beach and Bandon Dunes. At Bandon Dunes our suite overlooked a lake. There were chairs in front of the lake on which we would relax after dinner and tell stories. By far, Donny was the best storyteller, and his best was the story of "Gagnon, world champion moose caller". It's a story with twists and turns, fits and starts. As Donny told the story over 15-20 minutes he had Tommy, Mikey and me falling off our chairs with laughter. His accent, his delivery and sense of timing were impeccable. I had heard him tell it before but this presentation was so special it was like I was hearing for the first time. We all knew this was a moment in time we would never forget.

We've done Spring training at the SF Giants facility in Scottsdale and played the championship TPC course that hosts the Waste Management Open, which has the famous amphitheater hole.

When Tommy was at Penn I was forever grateful that Don was within close proximity should the need for an adult with resources be needed, if you know what I mean. Don took special care in developing close relations with all my kids. On one visit to Hillsborough he drew a pencil sketch of Erin that we framed and remains on display at our home 30 years later. Don is missed by all of the McMahons, each of whom has a special memory of him.