Joseph Aaron Gallagher

Joseph Aaron Gallagher was born June 5, 1979, in Cleveland, Ohio to parents James Patrick Gallagher and Bernarda Edrie Nichols.  He passed away on May 21, 2023, in Fort Walton Beach, Florida.  Joseph worked in Texas as a Senior Application Developer for AT&T for almost 20 years, from 2003 to 2022 before he and his wife, Nicole, moved to Florida.

Joseph was a generous, loving, and loyal person with an incredibly tender heart.  He poured his life striving to bring people together and to protect those he loved from pain.  He was also generous with his money – a trait that started at a very young age.  One specific act was transformational in the life of both him and his brother.  As a 12-year-old boy, his older brother was in need of some money to purchase a violin.  Joseph had been working hard mowing lawns and was able to loan his brother the needed $50 from the money he had been earning mowing.  This kind gesture was never forgotten, and it changed the course of both of their lives as they both went on to play violin together in a youth orchestra.  Music remained a large part of his life – he played the violin, cello, guitar, keyboard, Native American flute, and the bagpipes.

Joseph described himself as a spiritualist, and he believed in peace, love, and forgiveness.  He loved the mountains of Colorado, and as a teenager he loved to play ice hockey.  He was a talented writer and he also spent time as a DJ and a photographer.  High on his list of favorite ways to spend time was paddleboarding with his beloved wife, Nicole.

Joseph was preceded in death by his father, Jim Gallagher.

He is survived by his daughters Jaidan Langston and Kylee Gallagher; his wife Nicole Gallagher; son Jack Hirsch; daughters Sam Hirsch and Jolee Kelly; mother Bernarda Gallagher; sisters Christine Gallagher, Anna Gallagher, Naomi Clark, and Gloria Flores; and brothers Jordan Gallagher, James Gallagher, and Jonathan Gallagher.

He will always be remembered for his loving and gentle heart and his desire to bring comfort to everyone he knew.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (afsp.org) or Everytown for Gun Safety (everytown.org).