Gallelli, William Joseph (Bill)

Born in Calgary in 1917, Bill attended St. Angela’s Elementary School and St. Marys’ Boys High School. He left school in 1934 to work in the family business, mainly on city and highway construction sites. In 1948, with the ever- increasing construction in Calgary, Bill and his brother Nado focused their work solely within the city.

In 1951, Bill married Delores Stothers and moved into a very small apartment above the company’s garage at 630 Riverside Boulevard, sharing the space with the offices of Gallelli and Sons. It was there that their son Nick was born in May 1952. Named William Nicholas Gallelli, he always insisted on being called “Nick” after his namesake.

By October 1952, Bill and Delores had built a new home on 7th Avenue NE on the ridge overlooking the Gallelli family home. Gallelli and Sons extended the banks of the ridge behind the house by unloading topsoil gathered from their projects, creating a large yard with a beautiful view of the city and the Bow River.

As a young man, Bill was active in athletics. In high school, he excelled in hockey and even considered a scholarship offer from Gonzaga but ultimately chose to follow his father and brothers into business. In adulthood, Bill was very active in leisure activities, maintaining a lifelong involvement with curling at the Calgary Contractors’ Curling Club, as well as taking every opportunity to play cards, pool, bocce and bowling until well into his later years. It was while bowling in the local C.Y.O. League that he first met Delores.

Bill was a keen gardener with a large greenhouse and established his own brand of home-made wine: the “Gallelli House of Wines”. He also enjoyed creating authentic models of vintage machines. During his lifetime, Bill’s community contributions included being a Charter member of the Calgary Italian Sportsman’s Dinner Group, Charter member of the Knights of Columbus St. Alphonsus Council 4965, Charter member of the Father Naphin Assembly of the 4th Degree of the Knights of Columbus, Honorary Trustee of the Calgary Zoological Society, Original Board Member of the Columbus Manor Senior Citizens Project of Calgary and Building Chairman of the OLPH Reconstruction Project.

Delores recalls the many hours Bill spent volunteering at the Calgary Zoo. The parking lot near the south (and at the time, the only) entrance to the Calgary Zoo used to flood due to a problem with a small tributary of the Bow River, making access to the zoo difficult. On his own initiative, Bill took a crew, a machine, and gravel and permanently changed the course of the tributary, solving the flooding problem. This proved to be a big help to the Zoo but was not as well received by the Provincial Government in Edmonton. Bill was called to Edmonton to explain his actions and, in the end, was informally censured for not having had a permit.

This handmade silver and gold buckle was presented to Bill on his birthday by Delores in 1955.

In 1972 Bill discovered an old slot machine in Dawson City which he bought and restored to its original condition. He donated it to the Glenbow Museum, where it provides great pleasure to schoolchildren visiting the 1970s area on the third floor, who are allowed to try their luck with the requisite dimes.

After Bill and Nado’s ownership rights in Gallelli Construction Materials Ltd. were purchased, Bill founded a new company in May 1969: Bill Gallelli Investments. Bill’s son, Nick, and his wife Delores, joined him in running this family business, where they worked together in the building of warehouses and townhouses to form the basis of a large rental portfolio; it included large holdings on Horton Road and in the Foothills Industrial Park, the largest of which was a 48,000 sq. ft. warehouse.

After the death of their only child, son Nick, of cancer in 1992, Bill and Delores gradually and voluntarily dissolved this investment company, fully retiring in 2000. Bill could, and did, fix most things. He and Delores built extensions to their original home, including a beautiful terrazzo wall in their family room. In fact, it is almost impossible to list everything Bill had a hand in, but Delores mostly remembers him for his deep love of family. He was very proud of his Italian heritage and of being a Calgarian. Bill died in April 2005, the last remaining child of Nick and Julia Gallelli.

Written by: Delores Gallelli and Linda Payne

Source: Family photographs and personal recollections provided by the Gallelli family, including the personal collections of Bill and Delores Gallelli

Editorial Review: Editorial review by the Calgary Italian History Project for web publication