Gale Leary

Gala (Gale) Barfield Leary passed away peacefully at home on July 25. The baby of seven siblings, she grew up in a loving family where there was always laughter.  Gale was raised in Houston until the age of 13 when her family moved to the river bottoms of Tarkington.   She married the love of her life, Michael Leary and moved to Shepherd where they lived most of their 36 years together.  She had a son early in life, Kenneth.  The two were inseparable, commonly mistaken as siblings, and known for their outlandish times together and inside pranks, last of which resulted in an endless feud of flamingos.  She worked at the detention center in Cleveland for 32 years where she became known as Commissary Ms. Leary as the Commissary manager.  There she was known for her little frame, big personality and for her generosity to coworkers and those in need.  She loved playing bingo at the VFW in Porter and the slots at the casinos in Louisiana. She will be remembered for her tremendous love for her family and her wonderful sense of humor.  She will be dearly missed.

She is survived by her four loving sisters Elaine, Rita, Ann and Robin, and her son Kenneth, her inherited son Kevin, and “GiGi’s love” Dustin, too many to list brothers and sisters-in-law, as well as numerous nieces and nephews, and many beloved friends.  Those of us left to celebrate her life are a bit worried knowing she is up there filling in her parents Rita and Alvie Barfield, her two brothers Allen and Tommy Barfield, two nephews Cory Clem and Philip Akin, niece Angie Barfield and most of all her loving husband Michael Leary.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, August 12 at 10 AM in the Pace-Stancil Chapel in Cleveland, Texas.