Sportscommentariesbigpartofavariedlife

Published date22 May 2021
Publication titleOtago Daily Times (New Zealand)
He also exchanged letters with Laurence Olivier despite allegedly confessing his undying admiration for Olivier’s wife, Vivien Leigh.

And he once hurried to the airport to deliver a TV remote to Bryan Waddle — as you do.

It was a very full life.

He also dabbled in a bit of broadcasting, providing rugby commentaries for 26 years and cricket for 40 before retiring following the 1992 Cricket World Cup.

That is how most will remember Mr Gallaway. In the days following his death, it was clear how many lives he touched with his commentaries.

He died in Dunedin on April 18, aged 98.

The funeral service was at St Paul’s Cathedral Dunedin. He was a diligent Anglican and spent more than 50 years on the Dunedin Diocesan Trust Board.

It was one of many, many roles he shoehorned into an incredibly busy life.

‘‘He was amazingly generous with his time,’’ daughter Annie Gallaway wrote in an email to the Otago Daily Times.

‘‘He was called on frequently to deliver an address and he always honoured these requests, often travelling to country areas and never accepting any payment.

‘‘We took it all for granted. It was just Dad and what he did.

‘‘But sifting through the boxes of ‘stuff’ that I have of his, it was quite remarkable that he was able to combine all these extras on top of his legal practice.’’

Mr Gallaway was born in Dunedin on December 26, 1922. His parents, Garth and Grace, were of considerable means.

The couple had two children. Judy died in her early 30s.

In his autobiography, Mr Gallaway talks about a privileged upbringing. The family had a cook, two maids, a chauffeur and a gardener.

But his son, Garth, said it was always his impression that his father’s childhood was lonely and Mr Gallaway’s ‘‘parents were somewhat austere’’.

His early days at Christ’s College in Christchurch ‘‘were punctuated by homesickness and bullying and there is no doubt that sport was his salvation,’’ Garth said in his father’s eulogy.

But he grew to love the school and maintained a life-long association with it. He served on the board and was a life member of the old boys’ association.

In 1941, he settled into a busy year as a student at the University of Otago, a cadet reporter at the Otago Daily Times and a wicketkeeper for the Carisbrook club.

But it was the war years, and his ‘‘marble came up’’, as he put it in his autobiography.

He served in the Royal Regiment of New Zealand Artillery, the artillery regiment of the New Zealand Army, and the Royal New Zealand Navy from 1941-45.

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