Thomas M. Gately papers

Thomas M. Gately ("Tom" to his friends) was born on December 19, 1905 in Reading, Pennsylvania, the youngest of four children of Irish immigrant parents. He became interested in the dog world as a teenager and exhibited his first dog in 1924. Deciding to become a professional handler, he apprenticed under handlers Frank Brumby, Lew Worden, and Abe Swartz before starting his own business in 1927.

In 1931 he married Katherine Kilgore (born February 20, 1910, and known to all as Kay). She went into the handling business with him, and became a successful handler herself. As the owners of Gayterry Kennels in Wilton, Connecticut, they guided the breeding operations of many clients and bred their own Wire Fox, Kerry Blue, and Welsh Terriers, Miniature Schnauzers, Brittany Spaniels, and other dogs. Kay Gately ran the business without her husband for two years during World War II, when Tom Gately served as Head Kennelman and Technical Sergeant in the War Dog Company of the U.S. Marine Corps.

Tom Gately was an extraordinarily busy and successful handler, usually participating in more than sixty-five shows a year. He was best-known as a terrier expert, but he was versatile, handling dogs in all six groups (the Working Group had not yet been divided into the Working and Herding Groups), including more than eight hundred champions. He never won Best in Show at Westminster, but he won five groups there, and won Best in Show or Group at many other prestigious shows. Because of his excellent judgment, he was often commissioned to purchase dogs for clients. He took particular pride in the fact that many of these dogs went on to become champions.

After undergoing an operation in 1967 and suffering a serious car accident in 1968, Tom Gately decided to retire from handling and breeding dogs. The Gatelys continued to breed harness horses, maintaining a racing stable at their farm in Pineville, Pennsylvania, and continued to hunt with dogs. Tom Gately also wrote regular articles for