Robert Carter Gallagher

Gallagher, Robert Carter
June 24, 1931 - June 6, 2011

Surrounded by his loving family, Robert Carter Gallagher, 79, of Sarasota, Florida, formerly of Beckley, W. Va., died peacefully in his home June 6, 2011. Mr. Gallagher was born in Clifton Forge, Va., on June 24, 1931, the son of the late Carter Berkeley Gallagher and Pauline Johnson Gallagher. He graduated from Clifton Forge High School in 1948, and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1952. He served as an officer and aide-de-camp in the United States Army Signal Corps. Mr. Gallagher was employed for four years by Western Electric in Winston-Salem, N.C., as a tool designer. He was Vice-President of West Virginia Belt, an industrial supply company located in Beckley, W. Va. For the past 42 years, Mr. Gallagher had been president and principle owner of Craft Builders, Inc., specializing in residential and commercial construction, and was one of the largest volume builders in southern West Virginia. He had been a principle in companies which developed four major residential and commercial developments in the Beckley area. He was the recipient of the "Outstanding Builder of the Year" award from the Southern West Virginia Home Builders Association, in 1981, and was made a Life Director of Home Builders Association of West Virginia in 1983. Mr. Gallagher developed and operated Rent-A-Space mini-storage warehouse facilities in Roanoke, Va., and Charleston, W. Va. He was a real estate broker, Past President of Southern West Virginia Home Builders Association, President and Director of Theatre West Virginia, past Director of the Beckley-Raleigh County Chamber of Commerce, an active member of Beckley Rotary Club, and served as an Elder in the Beckley Presbyterian Church. Mr. Gallagher was a member of Bird Key Yacht Club in Sarasota, Fla.
Mr. Gallagher is survived by his loving wife of 43 years, Karen Berg Gallagher; daughters and sons-in-law, Mrs. Elizabeth Stewart (David), Mrs. Susan Bell (Stephen), Mrs. Anne Tobar (Richard); six grandchildren, Carter and Caroline Bell, Winn and Walker Stewart, and Rex and Berkeley Tobar, all of Charlotte, N.C.; a sister and brother-in law, Betsey Ellen Satterfield (William), of Lewisburg, W. Va., and a brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Dr. William J. Berg and Dr. Laurey Martin-Berg, of Madison, Wis. He also had numerous cousins, nieces, great-nieces, great-nephews, and many special friends who loved him.
A Celebration of the Life of Robert Carter Gallagher will be held at Bird Key Yacht Club on Friday, June 6, at 10 a.m. There will also be a Memorial Service at Beckley Presbyterian Church, Beckley, W. Va., and graveside rites in Clifton Forge, Va., at a later date.
Donations of sympathy may be made to a charity of the donor's choice, or to Beckley Area Foundation (Karen Berg Gallagher Fund), 129 Main Street, Suite 203, Beckley, WV 25801.