Anita Elizabeth (Wernz) Galofaro

Anita Galofaro, a Navy veteran of World War II, passed away peacefully on Friday, June, 17, 2022. She was 100 years old.

She was preceded in death by her loving husband, Anthony. They met while both were serving in the United States Navy during the war. He was a sailor, and she was a WAVE, the enlisted women in the service. They knew each other six weeks when he learned he would be shipped to the Pacific, and they decided to get married before he left for war.

They celebrated their 74th anniversary in 2018, a month before he died in her arms. Until the end, every night, Tony first got into Anita's side of the bed to warm it up for her. Together, they survived many great losses, including two of their three children, Sam, who died at 17 in a car accident in 1969, and Audree, who died at 40 of cancer in 1993. Tony and Anita weathered it together, holding hands, and with the love of their devoted youngest daughter, Julie Galofaro-Moore, and her husband, Tom. In their 70s, Tony and Anita adopted their two granddaughters, Claire Galofaro and Jessie Burnett, whose children, Laine and Vincent, brought them incredible joy.

Through it all, Anita kept her spunk and sense of humor. She delighted in all she had seen in her 100 years. She was born on August 15, 1921, to Mollie and Stephen "Arno" Wernz in rural Illinois. She grew up in Vigo County, Indiana, in a home with an outhouse and no electricity. She lived to have an email address.

Anita was raised by a single mother, who owned a grocery store and gas station, and taught her to be a feisty country girl despite her diminutive size, at less than five feet tall. She loved to tell stories of barn dances, sneaking into the circus, and ambling around on a pony named Star. She was named the best Jitterbugger in town.

Anita answered the call to serve during World War II and enlisted in the Navy's WAVES, where she worked as a typist for the War Department in Washington, D.C.

After the war, Tony and Anita moved back to her hometown, Terre Haute, Indiana, to raise their family. She was a homemaker and Tony, the son of Sicilian immigrants, was a proud member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers for 70 years. They later moved to New Albany, and southern Indiana has been her home for 50 years.

She was a member of Our Lady of Perpetual Help church and volunteered there and at Our Lady of Providence High School. Many know her as "Nana."

She was preceded in death by her parents and two siblings, Audree Mason (Robert) and Martin Wernz (Margie). In addition to her daughter, granddaughters, and great-grandchildren, she is mourned by many beloved nieces and nephews and dear friends, including Father Don Buchanan, Jim and Judy Fitzgerald, Micky and David Eade, Marilyn and Homer Ferree, and Kathy Mahalek.

Visitation will be from 2:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 23, 2022, at Newcomer Cremations, Funerals & Receptions (3309 Ballard Lane, New Albany). Her funeral service will take place at 9:00 a.m. on Friday at the funeral home with burial and military honors to follow at Roselawn Cemetery in Terre Haute, Indiana. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to her favorite charities, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Our Lady of Providence High School, or The American Cancer Society.

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