SWAMPSCOTT — When Historical Society members solicited ideas last January for upcoming Women’s Month celebrations, Lou Gallo quickly referenced Lady Deborah Moody, who local writer Betty Holmes said settled on land now in Swampscott in 1640.
Gallo’s love for all topics Swampscott remained passionate even after he moved to Saugus to live with his sister. Gallo and his sister, Rose Naples, died in an early Saturday morning fire in their Richard Street house.
“Swampscott has lost a forever friend and caretaker of Swampscott with the passing of Louie Gallo. Louie provided us with a greater understanding and appreciation of our hometown and his passion to keep Swampscott’s history alive will forever be felt and valued,” said Swampscott Select Board Chair Peter Spellios.
Gallo viewed history with humor, telling former Item Senior Writer Steve Krause in an interview last August about his own brief involvement in town government.
“I was put on the Commission of Trust Funds,” he said. “We did nothing.”
Gallo was 9 years old in 1952 when he caught the history bug during the town’s centennial anniversary. He dug into Swampscott history and the exploration never stopped.
“The biggest influence for me, with regard to history, was Harvey Michaels, who was a history teacher at Swampscott High. I had him for civics, modern history and one other course. But he piqued my interest in history in general,” he told Krause.
That interest blossomed into a life-long love for history that made Gallo an indispensable guide into the town’s past.
“We constantly called Lou from the library,” said Library Director Alyce Deveau, who said Gallo and fellow history buffs met at the library on the first Friday of the month.
Gallo worked with former town Fire Chief Kevin Breen and retired Capt. Kevin Thompson to set up a Town Hall display in 2019 marking the 50th anniversary of the New Ocean House Hotel fire. The display included the logbook describing the fire’s evolution and dramatic photographs of the blaze and its aftermath.
Gallo’s interest in the hotel extended beyond the fire. He worked as a golf caddy at the hotel as a teenager and recalled its formal dining room with a separate room where children ate and the guests who rented cottages for a summer stay with their pets.
“The atmosphere, the attitude of the place spelled out one word: sophistication. It was amazing,” he said.
Assistant Town Administrator for Operations and Public Works Director Gino Cresta called Gallo “my go-to guy.”
“If I didn’t have an answer, I called Lou,” Cresta said.
The two last spoke two weeks ago when Cresta consulted Gallo about the lilac garden at Monument Avenue and Farragut Road.
“Lou had the history and he knew a lot about lilacs,” Cresta said.
Gallo reinforced his steel-trap memory of town history by writing historical facts and anecdotes on index cards. He was also an unabashed collector of historic artifacts, ranging from New Ocean House bills and other paperwork to heavy equipment produced by the Thomson Electrical Company — a precursor to General Electric.
In the 2020 interview, Gallo said he moved into an in-law apartment in his sister’s home 15 years ago, spending time in Saugus but frequenting Swampscott where his tenure included a stint as a town custodian.
“I first met him when I applied more than 40 years ago for a library job,” said Deveau, who also recalled Gallo’s skills as an artist. “He loved everything about Swampscott.”
