Dana T. Gallup ’68 died on May 12, 2024, in Medford, Massachusetts.
[obituary submitted by classmate]
Dana Gallup was born on July 8, 1946. He grew up in Cambridge and graduated from Cambridge Latin where he was a three-sport captain: football; basketball; and tennis!
At Bowdoin, he was a member of Alpha Kappa Sigma, played football and captained lacrosse (a game he first played at Bowdoin!).
He served in the Army (Germany) for two years. His marriage to Clare ended in divorce, but he is survived by his daughter from that marriage, Hannah.
Dana built Gallup Landscaping into a formidable business. To listen to him talk about it, it seemed like his company had done work for about half of Cambridge, Mass.
While initially estranged from the College, beginning with his class’s 20th reunion, he re-engaged with old friends and made new friends with other classmates.
In his later years, he joined a group of people who plunged on January 1 to raise money for various causes. He had a strong social conscience, let other cars enter an intersection before him, and generously donated to Bowdoin for many years. Dana was his own man, lending distinction to his Bowdoin class, not through scholarly or public service work but, through his general genius and colorful nature.
In September, 2021, his doctors confirmed their diagnosis that he had ALS. He greeted the news with a strong desire to live his remaining life fully, even as his legs and strength slowly gave way.
An early member of The Bowdoin Breakfast Club, he rarely missed a gathering. His last two years of ALS were eased by a regular Monday night music date in Somerville. He passed away from complications of the disease on May 12, 2024.
We are left with the memory of a man who was generous, smart, liberal, caring, polite, embracing, and very well read, amongst his many qualities. Although we are sad that Dana is gone and that we will never have his company again, we were lucky to have had him in our lives. So, let us enjoy that thought.
We’re sorry to learn of Dana’s passing.
He was a class act, a really good all-around reliable gy and anchor on the lacrosse field, along with Little All American, my roommate, Rob Pfeiffer.
As members of Kappa Sigma, he was always supportive of every member, including incoming freshmen classes.
Am sure he will be missed by all who know him.
Rest in Peace.
Peter Quigley ’67
I’m so sorry to learn of Dana’s passing. My memories of him are positive and strong. We were classmates at the Longfellow school in Cambridge, a K-8 school where we were also middle grade teammates on football basketball and baseball teams for 3 years. I remember him as a big guy and very athletic. He was a forward and I was a guard on our school basketball teams. He was an end in football and I think played 3rd base in baseball. Always one of the best players in every sport. He was also a terrific student, always at the top of the class. We parted ways when I enrolled at BCHigh but in our senior year we had a preseason football game against his team. He was a tiger and earned the respect of all my teammates. Whenever I was to revisit Cambridge I would see the Gallup landscaping trucks and look to see if he was among them. Sadly for me, I never got the chance to connect with him. As I write this, I am looking at our class of 1960 photo and recalling moments with Dana (we also called him Tad). Loved the fact that both he and I played lacrosse in college! And my daughter Allison went to Bowdoin class of 2003. God bless you Dana, rest in peace.