Bob Gallagher was a native of Toronto, but moved to Bowmanville and became a dominant figure in the sporting scene in the Oshawa area. While Bob did set pins initially, his bowling career began through his employment at General Motors where he met is future wife, Mary. As couples were not allowed to co-work at GM, Mary stayed home and began a family in 1956 and, in succession, welcomed Kelly, Terry, Tracy and Patti.

Bob averaged just 230 in his local leagues before he qualified for the Molson’s Sportmen’s Show in 1956. With this experience, Bob saw his average quickly rise to 260 and he was ready to make his mark provincially and nationally. In one of the last Toronto events hosted by the Canadian Bowling Association, Bob paired with Hank Sarnovsky to not only win the doubles portion of the tournament, but to also set an Ontario record doubles score of 1787 with Bob rolling games of 361, 321 and 269 for a 951 triples.

Bob expanded his reputation to the national level in 1960 as part of the Ontario contingent that represented eastern Canada in the national finals at Calgary. Bob, along with Hall of Famer Hugh Connelly, competed on both the men’s and mixed teams and won national championships with both groups.

This success corresponded with the Oshawa bowlers joining the prestigious Toronto City Major League. While they finished second in their first year, the Oshawa team won titles in 1961-62 and repeated their championship in 1963-64. the 1962 victory marked the first time that the Seagram Trophy, emblematic of the Toronto City Major League championship, had ever been won by a team from outside Toronto. Bob continued his outstanding bowling in 1964 when, individually, he won the singles roll-off, which was held annually among the top bowlers in the major league. In fifteen games, Bob averaged 281 and narrowly defeated Hall of Famer Bill Hoult by 42 pins.

While Bob’s bowling career was dominated by these championships, he was a gentleman who was involved in a variety of activities. In his early days, Bob bowled in three leagues and, as well, contributed his talents throughout the Motor City. Bob was secretary of the Central Ontario Babminton Association for nearly twenty years and, on one Saturday, bowling was moved two hours so that Bob could participate in an important badminton match that day as well. Bob’s volunteer talents touched all sports. He coached hockey at his local church, St. Mary’s, and, each year, an annual trophy is awarded in his memory.

Bob retired from the bowling world in 1986 but continued active in lawn bowling, as a timekeeper for the Oshawa Junior ’B’ hockey team and also as the public address announcer for the professional wrestling shows that were scheduled at the Oshawa Civic Centre.

Bob passed away in 1993 and today his wife, Mary, continues to live in Oshawa with close ties to her four children and fourteen grandchildren.