Roberta "Robbie" Mcgalliard

On January 15, 2023, Roberta “Robbie” McGalliard passed from this earth in her sleep following a week surrounded by friends and family. Robbie was born on February 20, 1946, in Great Falls, the third daughter of Drs. Ambrose “Tuck” and Carmen Friedl.

Robbie, proved to be a fighter from the beginning, and as legend has it, it was her slugging a nun at the Ursuline Academy in the second grade that led to the three youngest daughters to finish their elementary school education at St. Thomas School. Through elementary and high school Robbie was actively involved in the Girl Scouts and their Mariner program. She was also a trumpet player in the band through high school and an early member of the women’s swim team at the YMCA. Those activities led to friendships that would last her lifetime.

Following her sisters, Robbie went to Great Falls Central graduating in 1964. A good student, Robbie left Great Falls to attend the University of Denver. She  graduated in 1968 with a Bachelor of Arts in Special Education and subsequently a Master’s degree in Education in 1971 from Colorado State University.

While at the University of Denver, Robbie met Dennis Weber. Following graduation, the couple were married at Holy Family church in Great Falls in August of 1968. The couple would have two children together, Nathan born in 1974 and Erika born in 1979. Following their marriage, much of their life through the 1970s was spent in Europe. First the couple spent their time travelling in a VW microbus. Eventually, Robbie found a position as a civilian working for the U.S. Army as an education counselor. Her work with three of the four branches of the service would span over thirty years with long stints with the U.S. Army in Germany, the U.S. Marine Corps in Washington D.C., and the U.S. Air Force in Great Falls and in Phoenix, AZ. She loved working with the soldiers, marines, and airmen. Countless of their ranks owe their college and graduate degrees to her advocacy and guidance.

Following a divorce from Dennis and a later fight with the Marine Corp (a fight she would ultimately win) Robbie returned to Great Falls to be with her family.  During this return to Great Falls, Robbie met a hockey player named George McGalliard on one raucous St. Patrick’s Day.  The couple were married in June of 1988.

Robbie and George moved to Phoenix, AZ in the fall of 1991 where they would remain until 2017. During this time, Robbie finished her career with the military, played some golf, and spent countless hours volunteering with her church and with the Phoenix Library Book sale.  It was also during this time that with the help of her younger sister, Andrea Blewett, she once again began travelling.  With trips to Central and South America, as well as a return to Europe the two took in many new sites and experiences including a couple of rides in central American buses surrounded by caged chickens and talking with locals as Robbie and Andy sought their far-flung destinations.

Shortly after her son’s marriage in 1999, Robbie was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, the biggest and longest fight of her life. Parkinson’s would not really slow Robbie down for another 20 years as she did everything in her power to keep one step ahead of the advancing disease. She participated in studies at Yale University and the Mohammed Ali Center in Phoenix. She was unique, at the time, for how young she was to have the disease and that uniqueness led doctors to want to observe her progress and monitor her successes in holding the disease at bay.  Robbie was never passive, and in this fight, she worked out nearly daily, sought out new treatments, subjected herself to not just one but two brain stimulation implant surgeries and, in general, refused to let the disease slow her down. In the end Parkinson’s did not win the fight.

Robbie and George returned to Great Falls in 2017 so that Robbie could once again be around family and friends. In the end, as at the beginning, family is all one truly has. In her waning hours she was able to have all three sisters, most of her nieces and nephews, her children, and, of course, George by her side. In addition, Robbie was surrounded by a number of wonderful caregivers at the Grandview assisted living facility who treated her with incredible love and granted her incredible dignity to the end.

Robbie is survived by her husband, George; her two children, Nathan and Erika; five grandchildren, Stefi, Stuart, Klaus, Andreas, and Johannes; and her three sisters, Luzanne Bennett, Josie Kleffner, Andrea Blewett and their children Paula, Lynn, Julie, Patrick, Joseph, Anders, and Drew.

A funeral Mass for Robbie will be held at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Great Falls on Friday, February 24, 2023, at 11:00 a.m.

In lieu of flowers the family asks that you consider a donation in Robbie’s name to the Muhammad Ali Parkinson's Center at the Barrow Neurological Institute where Robbie was a patient for many years.  Details can be found at https://www.barrowneuro.org/centers-programs/parkinson-disease-and-movement-disorders/ .