Whittier man with pacemaker dances up a storm to raise money for sister

WHITTIER » You might say that Ron Galarze stepped up this weekend, for a cause like no other: His sister.

By the end of three hours straight of dancing in the front yard of his Whittier home, Galarze had raised $8,000. City officials and dignitaries had stopped by. Residents had given their support.

His sister, Julie, was glowing — her stage-four breast and bone cancer took a back seat on a night in which her brother stepped up on a table, turned on the music on his phone, blasted it through a speaker and danced the night away — from “The Twist” to disco to the Cha-Cha to house — three hours straight.

Each step was for Julie. And with each step came support to help pay for her medical bills. The $8,000 added to a growing GoFundMe tally that by Monday morning had grown to $13,000, after a night of fundraising and after the story spread across social media and media platforms.

“It was just beyond anything I would have dreamed of,” Galarze said Monday.

The marathon dance didn't come as a surprise to many who know Galarze.

He has run five marathons — the last with a brand new pacemaker. He quit his job as manager and funeral director at Guerra and Gutierrez Mortuary, and wiped out his 401(k) in order to take care of his sister, with hopes of raising enough money for his sister's medical bills.

“I'm doing it to lift the spirits and to give her courage to keep fighting, to raise funds and help her with the catastrophic amount of bills that are her portion that she no longer can handle due to her disability,” Galarze said before the event.

In August 2015, Julie Galarze was diagnosed with stage-four breast and bone cancer. For a while she was doing better.

But in March of this year she woke up with so much pain in her back she couldn't move. She was taken to St. Jude Medical Center for a week and her doctor said the cancer had spread to the spine. She had multiple fractures. She was treated with radiation and chemo.

Paying the bills has been difficult since Medicare only paid a portion of the bills, which range from $190 to $500, she said.

Ron Galarze also is well known in the Whittier community. He has been the announcer for the Uptown Whittier Christmas parade since 2019 and will be doing it again this year. He also announced the Whittier Sonata.

On Monday, Galarze was recovering from the weekend. But he said he felt “energized.” Energized by the support from people from all over, he said, his voice cracking with emotion. Energized by his sister, 49. Her birthday is Aug. 3, he said.

A banner still hung at the scene of the dance: “Faith, Hope and Love for Julie,” it said.