Susan Martha Kraus Gallitano, a high school guidance counselor for 30 years, died peacefully July 18, in Kingston. She was 78.
Born in Teaneck and raised in Bogota, NJ, she was the daughter of the late Charles and Margaret Kraus. She attended Holy Angels High School in Fort Lee, NJ , where she loved dance and school theater productions. After graduation, she attended Trinity College, in Washington, D.C. where she discovered her passion for politics, majored in political science, and worked on Capitol Hill.
She earned a master’s degree in education and guidance from Bridgewater State University and found a career in counseling and career guidance at Wheaton College and Bentley University. She then found her home as a guidance counselor at Sacred Heart High School in Kingston, where for more than three decades she helped hundreds of young people believe in themselves.
She was married to Joseph Gallitano for 48 years, and raised a family while living in Plymouth, Key West, FL, and Sagamore Beach on Cape Cod. While her husband served in the Navy, she worked in advertising and television promotions in Corpus Christi, TX. After moving to Boston, she joined Filene’s Department Store, planning public relations campaigns and major promotional events. She often told the story about choosing Chubby Checker to headline a seasonal event over an upstart, unknown local rock band called Aerosmith.
She also helped navigate the turbulent waters of Massachusetts politics during her husband’s campaigns for Select Board and the State House,
She is survived by her son Joshua Gallitano of Boston and her sister Kathie Vasell of Boca Raton, FL. She was preceded in death by her husband and her sister Peggy Calitre of Ramsey, NJ.
Visitation will be 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday Aug. 11 at Bartlett Funeral Home, 338 Court St, Plymouth. A funeral mass will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 12 at St. Mary’s Church, 313 Court St., Plymouth. Burial will follow at Vine Hills Cemetery.