Rebecca Gallagher, the mother of six children, including Father Timothy Gallagher of the Atlanta Archdiocese, died at her home in Godfrey, Ga., on Feb. 12 after an extended battle with brain cancer. She was 72.

Born on Dec. 19, 1938 to Pauline Hale Dryden and the late Quinton Dryden, Mrs. Gallagher, known as Becky, grew up in a sharecropping family and after high school earned a nursing degree from St. Vincent’s Nursing School in Jacksonville, Fla. She and her husband, John F. Gallagher Jr., married in 1964.

They moved to Morgan County, Georgia, in 1966 where they raised their six children. Mrs. Gallagher worked as a registered nurse for 48 years, including at Morgan Memorial Hospital, the Woodkraft Company and CareSouth’s Madison office. She also gave free medical care to neighbors in her community. She was an active member of Antioch Baptist Church where she taught Sunday school.

Her family said Mrs. Gallagher was known for her passion in the fight for the unborn, the poor and the hungry.

She is survived by her husband, John; her children, Cynthia Simmons of Grayson; Sean Gallagher of Madison; Teresa Miller of Alexandria, Va.; Heidi Moses of Athens, Tenn.; Father Timothy Gallagher, parochial vicar at St. Pius X Church, Conyers; and Nathaniel Gallagher of Warner Robins; 15 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. She is also survived by her mother, Pauline Dryden, and five siblings.

The funeral service was held on Feb. 15 at Antioch Baptist Church, Madison, followed by interment at Antioch Cemetery. A memorial Mass was celebrated on Feb. 16 at St. James Catholic Church, Madison.

Donations in her memory may be made to the Christian Appalachian Project, P.O. Box 459, Hagerhill, KY 41222 or the St. Vincent de Paul Society of St. James Catholic Church, 562 Vine St., Madison, GA 30650.