Anyone who has ever had the pleasure of meeting Chick Galella can testify to the man’s inordinate sense of optimism and his gentle and caring disposition.
One day after his 90th birthday on New Year’s Day, he celebrated with a Mass said by Monsignor Mazza at the Immaculate Conception Church in “North Tarrytown” as many there remembered the now Sleepy Hollow. Afterwards 130 guests gathered in the Church’s hall to honor Chick and his wife Leda. With his sons Armando and Michael present the Galellas “danced up a storm” according to long time friend Irene Amato. “It was a beautiful sight to see,” she said. Italian and American songs were performed by Bob Losier and his band and the guests acknowledged Chick, a Pearl Harbor survivor, former Village Trustee and “the backbone” of the Immaculate Conception Bazaar held annually in Sleepy Hollow. “He’s a true North Tarrytowner,” Irene Amato wrote in a letter to this publication. We concur and realize that Armando “Chick” Galella is a true gem to all who have been fortunate to know and befriend him.
