Scottdale funeral director to keep Galley Funeral Home running
Rob Ferguson has known Ralph Galley for years.
Ferguson is a fourth-generation funeral director in Scottdale, and Galley of Dawson, has been in the business for 70 years. Throughout the years, the two men would help each other out with business as the need arose.
When Galley, now 93, suffered a recent health setback and decided it was time to step away from his family business, the Ralph E. Galley Funeral Home, he was approached by Ferguson, whose funeral home is less than 10 minutes away by car.
“It’s really an extension of the geographical area,” said Ferguson. “We are going to continue the Galley legacy.”
The deal, which is expected to be completed sometime during the first half of this year, will combine two community fixtures and ensure their viability in the years to come.
“We are going to keep the Galley name and operate it as a branch,” of the Ferguson Funeral Home,” Ferguson said.
Galley, who lives in Vanderbilt with his wife, Marjorie, 92, didn’t set out to become a funeral director, like his father who started the business in the 1920s. Instead, Galley said he wanted to go to medical school and become a doctor, but his father had other plans for his son.
“He didn’t have the money for medical school, so I joined the family business,” said Galley, a 1941 graduate of Dunbar High School. He entered mortuary school in 1942 and in 1943 joined the Navy. He was stationed in the South Pacific during World War II.
During his seven decades as a mortician in Dawson, Galley, who also served as a deputy coroner for Fayette County, has seen many changes in how people handle the remains of loved ones. He has also been called to many uncomfortable scenes such as mine explosions in neighboring West Virginia and automobile accidents. He has even had to lower bodies through second-story windows because there was no other way to get them out of the house.
“In my early days, people were laid out in their homes,” Galley said. “Sometimes the door was not big enough to take the casket in.”
Also there was the time when Galley, in his duty as county coroner, to a home in Lower Tyrone Township. When he got there, the owner held him at gunpoint.
“He was a moonshiner,” Ferguson explained. “The man was afraid Ralph was going to discover his still.”
Galley has also had a brush with celebrity. The producers of the movie Silence of the Lambs made repeated requests to use Galley’s embalming room in the movie. Galley told them no.
“They would have left the place a mess,” he said.
Ferguson has no plans to change the Galley Funeral Home when he takes over later this year. He said he may hire a couple of people, but plans to remain hands on as he is in Scottdale.
“The funeral business is in transition,” said Ferguson explaining that cremation is becoming a popular option for many in the area.
“That is because a lot of people have not bothered to purchase life insurance,” Galley said.
“You are not going to see a change in compassionate staffing,” Ferguson said. “It is a calling. I look at my work as a ministry. Most of the people we deal with, we know.”