Richard "Dick" Gallagher

Jan. 21, 1941 – June 22, 2020

Richard "Dick" Gallagher, who turned his love of high school football into a secondary career, died Monday in Buffalo hospice after a lengthy illness, his son, Michael, confirmed. He was 79.

Three of Gallagher's favorite words were "passion," "perseverance" and "positive," and he lived up to them.

Gallagher's primary profession was in social work. He spent 42 years working in the addiction treatment field, with special attention to young people. However, he was equally well-known as an expert devotee of scholastic football and other sports in Western New York.

"My two separate lives came together," Gallagher often said. "My professional career has been in addictions and my labor of love has been in youth sports."

He left his mark in both areas.

He was executive director of Alcohol and Drug Dependency Services and Kids Escaping Drugs before his retirement. In the course of his work with young people, Gallagher appreciated the role of athletics, particularly football, in their lives.

"Dick Gallagher dedicated his life to helping others," Section VI football chairman Ken Stoldt said in a statement. "One could go on forever talking about what he has done for not only football in Western New York, but more importantly, for what he has done to help with the Kids Escaping Drugs Program.

"He was a true inspiration for anyone he came in contact with. When you ended a conversation with Dick, you walked away in a better mood because of what he said."

In 1983, he founded Western New York High School Sports and began to publish a weekly tabloid covering local high school athletics. It grew into more than a sports paper. WNY Sports became a movement to honor the accomplishments – both in competition and in the classroom – of athletes in baseball, softball, football and basketball. In 1987, the All-Academic Sports Banquet was organized, and it remains a fixture to this day, honoring hundreds of athletes each year.

"Dick was an amazing man who leaves behind an unbelievable legacy," Jamestown coach Tom Langworthy said. "He loved, helped, promoted, celebrated, and built relationships with thousands of student-athletes and coaches. He was and will always be 'The Godfather of High School Football!' "

Gallagher ceased publishing the sports paper in 2010 but remained active as a contributor to WGRZ-TV's high school sports coverage and worked with WNYAthletics.com.

"You will not find a man who did more to enhance the lives of high school student athletes or help those battling addiction than this gentleman," WGRZ sports director Adam Benigni said. "He will be sorely missed."

"The world lost one of the greatest men to walk the earth earlier today," WNYAthletics.com said in a tweet. "A man who dedicated his entire life to helping those in need, especially the youth who had lost their way, Dick Gallagher was the type of man we should all strive to emulate. RIP Mr. Gallagher."

Gallagher, and his twin brother, Robert, were born in the Bronx in 1941. The Gallagher family moved several times because their father was an executive with the Veterans Administration. Dick spent his early school years in Boston. His high school years were spent in Bath, in the Finger Lakes. He is a graduate of Haverling High School in Bath.

After high school, he graduated from King's College in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., in 1964.

He received his master's degree in social work at the University at Buffalo in 1969 and was appointed director of rehabilitation services for the Buffalo Area Council on Alcoholism in 1970. In 1984 he became executive director of Alcohol and Drug Dependency Services and its foundation.

The organization sponsored the Kids Escaping Drugs program and its annual telethon. With Gallagher's leadership, Kids Escaping Drugs established Renaissance House, a teen treatment facility in West Seneca in 1990.

Gallagher's daughter, Christine, died from suicide in 1993 at age 24.

"Her untimely death was related to alcoholism. And that's the worst thing any parent could ever go through with their children," Gallagher told Buffalo magazine in 2018. "Two years later, with the agency, we were able to build a 16-bed facility for girls."

Over the course of both careers, Gallagher has received several awards. In 2003, he was inducted into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame. He is a member of the Section VI Hall of Fame, the Prep Talk Hall of Fame and the Lackawanna Wall of Fame.

Last summer, he was named the first winner of the Dick Gallagher Legacy Award at the annual Kensington Lions All-Star football game.

"He's clearly one of the most genuine individuals I've ever met in my life," Section VI Executive Director Timm Slade said. "His love for hs athletics was second to none. I've never seen him or heard him treat anyone in a negative matter since I've met him and the respect he has from the coaches and players is astronomical. He will be sadly missed especially in the sport of football and game of life."

A longtime Williamsville resident, Gallagher is survived by his wife of 56 years, Ann (McMahon), a retired nurse with the Veterans Administration and sons Richard, a Spanish teacher at Clarence, and Michael, principal of Hamburg High School, and seven grandchildren, and his twin brother, Richard, who lives in Pittsburgh. He was predeceased by a daughter, Christina.

Services were pending.

News Sports Writer Miguel Rodriguez contributed to this report.