Louie Galloway

Louie Elizabeth Galloway, 85, of Charlottesville, Virginia passed away on Tuesday, October 11 2022. Louie was born in Shreveport, Louisiana on May 8, 1937. Then known as Betty Weber, she grew up swinging on vines across creeks in the piney woods of Many, Louisiana. When she was twelve, her family moved to New Orleans and she enrolled in the Isidore Newman School, which opened the intellectual world for her.

Louie (also known as Elizabeth) received a B.A. and M.A. in English literature from Vanderbilt University and married John Galloway in 1961. They moved to New Haven, Connecticut for his training and her three daughters were born there. After her marriage ended, Louie started teaching English at a branch campus of the University of Connecticut and embarked on the adventure of single motherhood. She was active in the early women's movement and remained a politically engaged feminist throughout her life. Louie received a National Endowment for the Humanities grant to study poetry at Boston University, marking the first chapter of her life as a poet. She earned an interdisciplinary Ph.D. from B.U. in English Poetry and Anthropology. Louie became a professor of English and taught poetry, writing, and literature at Massachusetts College of Art for many years. MassArt was Louie's love and professional home; teaching artists about words brought her great joy. Upon her retirement in 2004, she announced her plan ‘to wander without purpose among the trees’ as she returned to writing poetry.

Louie then moved to Lawrence, Kansas to help care for her grandchildren. She was an active member of the Lawrence Quaker Friends community, contributed to several local writing and book groups, was an enthusiastic volunteer at the Lawrence Public Library, and kept a pride flag proudly displayed on her porch. Louie's poetry was published in a variety of journals; her book Tappings can be found on her website, www.gallowaypoetry.com.

Louie moved to Charlottesville, Virginia in 2020 where she enjoyed the verdant rolling hills and playing the piano at her home, Martha Jefferson House. She is survived by daughter Laura Galloway and son-in-law Eric Nagy Galloway of Charlottesville, Virginia, and grandchildren Hazel and Jesse; daughter Ellen Galloway and daughter-in-law Gina Rose of Cincinnati, Ohio, grandchildren Valentina and Liseth, and great-grandson Princeton; and daughter Julia Galloway of Missoula, Montana.

Louie will be laid to rest in a family plot in Truro, Massachusetts. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to your local public library in honor of Louie's lifelong passion for writing and learning.