Gerard Anthony Gallagher Jr.

Gerry was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania in 1931, to Gerard, Sr., and Catherine Gallagher, and was the oldest of three children. After high school he worked repairing radios and televisions and learning electronics. Gerry enlisted in the Air Force in 1952 and was assigned to the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project, serving in the 1095th Special Reporting Squadron at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, where he served as a weapons specialist. As a crewman he accumulated flight time in the Convair B-36 and flew in the Boeing B-47 as well. While stationed at Lowry AFB in Denver, he met and married his wife Gloria, who also served in the Air Force at the time.

Following his service in the Air Force, Gerry took his interest in physics and electronics to the University of Scranton, PA, while working for the Bendix corporation. He was awarded several patents for innovations in various electronic components. Shortly after completing his college studies, in 1963 he joined MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington, Massachusetts. He initially served on the design and construction teams for the MIT Haystack radio telescope and subsequently served as head of the Space Environment Laboratory from 1965 to 1972. During this period, he managed the testing and modification of five research satellites prior to each of their successful launches at Cape Canaveral.

While at MIT in the 1960s, Gerry took an interest in emerging environmental concerns, as well as solar energy and climate change science. He was greatly moved by the 1962 book Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson, the near extinction of the bald eagle, and the subsequent banning of the pesticide DDT. He became active in the Institute of Environmental Sciences, eventually serving as head of the Boston chapter and later served as president of the national organization. This path eventually led him to joining the consulting firm Ecology and Environment, Inc. (E&E) in Buffalo, NY. Gerry left MIT and moved his family to East Aurora, NY, in 1972.

Gerry developed and led some of E&E’s biggest programs, such as the initial EPA nationwide Superfund contract for responding to and cleaning up toxic and hazardous waste pollution sites. He retired from E&E in 2000 as a Senior Vice President.

Gerry was an avid outdoorsman, enjoying fly fishing, hunting, hiking, skiing and canoeing. He was active in the East Aurora Players for many years, with his wife Gloria. He enjoyed playing practical jokes on his friend Ed Vidler. Gerry and Gloria relocated to Palm Beach Gardens in 2001, enjoying travel and family get-togethers. Gloria passed away in 2018. They were married 63 years.

Gerry is survived by his brother Paul “Moose” Gallagher of Milford Mass.; his four children, Gerard Gallagher III of Penn Yan NY; Teresa Gallagher (James Link) of Glenwood NY; Michelle Searcy (Christian) of North Palm Beach, FL; and James Gallagher, of Palm Beach Gardens FL; as well as five grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.

A memorial will be held for Gerry on August 9, 2025, 10:00AM, at Howard-Quattlebaum Funeral Home, 754 U.S. Hwy 1, North Palm Beach FL (www.howard-pricefuneralhome.com). As a military veteran he will be interred at the South Florida National Cemetery in Lake Worth, FL. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made in his name to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN, 38105.