By Jeff Radford, for the Corrales Comment
A memorial service will be held March 12 for Corrales hair stylist Judy Gagliano, owner of Corrales Hair Studio, who died February 24.
At 69 years old, she had battled brain cancer for the past 13 months during treatments at the Mayo Clinic Arizona Cancer Research Center. The Long Island, New York native had lived in Corrales since December 1992 when she joined her husband, former Village Councillor Gerard Gagliano.
Although the two had not known each other during high school, they were in the same large graduating class in Uniondale, New York. But they had several friends in common, so they met when she walked up to him at their 20th class reunion.
After high school, she earned a bachelor’s degree in theater arts in 1976 at Adelphi University. She began her long career in hair styling learning and teaching for the next 15 years at Intercoiffure with some of the top ten hair stylists in the United States . “Her work as a hair stylist really was unequalled,” her husband noted. “For her, it really was an art form.”
She stated her mission as “Easy, effortless hair with natural-looking color and shine. I look for individuality in a haircut, never contrived or trendy. Just your own personal style.”
After moving to New Mexico, she worked at a salon on North Fourth Street about seven years before starting Corrales Hair Studio. She built a loyal clientele over the next 22 years, specializing in non-chemical treatments and natural hair care products. She carried that commitment over to her personal life as well; she adopted a vegetarian diet when she turned 17, and remained rigorous disciplines for her health, including routines in hot yoga.
“She was spiritually and mentally healthy and, ironically, did everything one can do to keep a healthy body,” her husband recalled. “Judy was an unconditional friend, and an upbeat personality, a beautiful soul, loving and kind.”
Her long-standing interest in Eastern mysticism led to several trips to India. Similarly, she explored the tradition of mysticism in the Catholic Church. An avid reader, she owned more than thousand books.
The memorial service for Judy Gagliano will be held at San Ysidro Catholic Church in Corrales Tuesday, March 12 at 11 a.m. The event will be live streamed. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Mayo Clinic Arizona Cancer Research Center or the American Cancer Society. Her sole survivor is her husband, Gerard and his sister, Effie Osborne, and brother, Thomas Gagliano. She had no siblings, and parents John and Dorothea Rauch died earlier.