Gales, David Lorne, 1911-1991

David Lorne Gales was born in Montreal on January 6, 1911 (his parents being George Gilbert Gales and Ada Belle Clarke). From 1920-1928, Gales attended Lower Canada College, a private elementary and secondary school for boys in Montreal. Gales was a member of the McGill Rowing Club (1928-1935), rowing for Canada at the British Empire Games in 1930. At McGill University, he earned a B.A. (1928-1932), later earning a B.C.L. (1932-1935) and was also the President of the Students' Society from 1934·to 1935.

Gales married Isabel D. Graham Dawson (daughter of A.O. Dawson) on January 5, 1939 and had four children: Pamela Joan, Robert Lorne, Howard Richard, David Graham. His mother passed away on February 1945, as did his son, David, in 1972 in a car accident. D. Lorne Gales died on October 8, 1991.

Gales was called to the Bar of Quebec in January of 1936, and subsequently joined the firm of Campbell, McMaster, Couture, Kerry & Bruneau in Montreal. In July 1940, Gales enlisted in the 2nd Reserve Battalion of the Royal Montreal Regiment as a Private. He practiced law With Kearney, Duquet & MacKay from May 1941 until the spring of 1943 when he joined the Canadian Armed Forces. In the fall of 1943 he was diagnosed with pneumonia. Gales served out World War II with the Canadian Armoured Corp at Camp Borden in Ontario, gaining the rank of Staff Captain.

Discharged from the army, Gales joined McGill University's Graduates' Society (originally founded in 1857 and officially incorporated in 1880, changing its name to The McGill Alumni Association in 1995) as a Field Secretary in 1946. In 1949, Gales was appointed General Secretary of the Graduates' Society. In 1952, he was named Secretary of the Alma Mater Fund. In 1960 Gales was appointed Development Officer of McGill University.

In 1964 the McGill Fund Council (a standing committee of the Board of Governors) was created and Gales named as its Executive Director. In the same year he was appointed
the Executive Director of the Graduates' Society. He retired in 1976 to pursue consultant work for McGill University Fund Office, Universite de Montreal, Universite de
Sherbrooke, University of Western Ontario, Montreal Children's Hospital, Douglas Hospital, as well as other organizations.

Gales was the winner of the Graduates' Society's Gold Medal Award of Merit, and the Columbia University Alumni Association Medal for Service to Higher Education. He was a member of the American Alumni Council, Delta Kappa Epsilon, and the United Church.