Lasting Memories

Anna Gallant
June 3, 1928-Sept. 24, 2015
Cupertino, California

Anna Gallant passed from this life on Sept. 24, 2015. Anna and her twin sister, Bessie, were born in Chicago, Illinois, on June 3, 1928. Their parents, Emil and Anna Becka, were immigrants from Czechoslovakia. Anna received her schooling in Chicago, and graduated as an registered nurse from Presbyterian Hospital Nursing School in 1949. Soon thereafter, she and several of her nursing school friends packed up a car and drove across country to find nursing work in the Los Angeles, California, vicinity. It was there she met John Gallant, a handsome Navy man, and they were married in 1954. They enjoyed nearly 50 years together before John's passing.

Anna and John settled in Palo Alto, California, while he attended Stanford University and remained in the area the rest of their lives. Anna worked for many years as a nurse in pediatric ICU at Stanford Hospital. She loved children, and while they never had any of their own, she would frequently "borrow" the children of her friends and her nieces and nephews, taking them on special outings to the zoo, museums and other fun activities. Anna's other love was animals, and after her retirement, she was a volunteer docent at Deer Hollow Farm and the San Francisco Zoo. She was frequently seen hiking the paths in the Bay Area and her neighborhood in Palo Alto. Her energy was boundless and she relished being outdoors in nature.

Anna was preceded in death by her sister, Bessie Becka, and her husband, John Gallant. She is survived by her brother-in-law, Albert Eberhart.