Elizabeth Julia Galas

Julia Galas, 92, died on July 8, 2012, at Lawrence Memorial Hospital. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, on July 13, at 10 a.m. Visitation with the family will begin at 9 a.m. at the church. Inurnment will follow later in July at St. Casimir’s Catholic Cemetery in Chicago.
Julia was born Sept. 11, 1919, in Springfield, Ill., to Elizabeth Bendziuas and Clemence Banaitis, both immigrants from Lithuania. She lived in the Chicago area from 1922 until 1991, when she moved to Lawrence.
She is survived by two daughters, Judith Galas (Cindy West) and Peg Sampson (Blaine), both of Lawrence; a granddaughter Amy Owings (Curtis) and great-grandson Gabriel Owings, of Wellington, New Zealand, and two step great-grandchildren, Sabrina and Chandler Owings, Greenwood, Mo.; six nieces and nephews, in Chicago, and one in Detroit, and many great and great-great nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her sisters Helen McDonald, Clara Banaitis, and Mary Sarpalius and brother Clemens Banaitis, all of Chicago, and sister Anne Lannoo and a niece, both of Detroit.
In addition to being a homemaker while raising her children, she also worked in several Chicago-area factories before retiring in 1991. After her move to Lawrence, she was active in the Douglas County Senior Center, where she taught chair exercises for many years, and in the social life of Vermont Towers, where she lived for almost eight years. She was a member of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church.
Julia loved rock-‘n-roll music, and especially Elvis Presley; opera; and all things Hawaiian. She also loved live theater and movies, especially Bruce Willis action films. An avid reader, she went through three books a week and read through most of the library’s large- print editions. All her life, she loved to dance, and when she no longer could, she imagined herself still on the dance floor.
Because of her lifelong concern for the well being of animals, Julia hoped that in lieu of flowers, any memorials may be sent to the Lawrence Humane Society in care of Warren-McElwain Mortuary.
Online condolences may be sent to www.warrenmcelwain.com.