DKE—A Galloway Family Legacy
Joe Galloway ’79, a native of Mobile, received a bachelor of science degree in biology from The University of Alabama and graduated from the University of Alabama School of Medicine in Birmingham in 1984. Joe completed his surgical residency at the Oschner Clinic in New Orleans. He is board certified in general surgery and is a fellow in the American College of Surgeons. He is a past-president of Providence Hospital Medical Staff, a member of the Country Club of Mobile, a Mardi Gras Mystic Society, the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, and the Senior Bowl committee.
Joe remembers his first visit to the DKE house for Psi Day Tea and Homecoming festivities with his parents as a fifth grader visiting his older brother, Tom ’70. “I would go up to his room and sit on his bunk bed and try to imagine what living there would be like. Nine years later, I moved into that same room, not by coincidence.”
His brother, Bob ’73, was in his third year of law school when Joe came to the University as a freshman. “Having him in town was a big help. He never gave away DKE secrets during my pledgeship, though I wish he had told me to get a haircut; my composite picture was awful.”
Joe worked at the Alabama Book Store at the beginning of each semester and served the fraternity as treasurer his senior year. “As any of the treasurers that preceded me would tell you, it’s a thankless job. As I remember there are a couple of guys who still haven’t paid all their fines. I think I’ll send them another house bill!”
Joe says he had a very close-knit pledge class and was especially close to his rotating roommates: Andy Terry ’79, Gary Garstecki ’80, John McNeil ’79, Ken Huffstutler ’78, and Sam Adams ’79. He has many memories of his time in the house, like eating DKE dogs. “The most memorable, but not in a good way, was setting the raw egg eating record, a family tradition I’m told.”
He still maintains close ties with DKE and his brothers. He attends most of the home football games and always stops by the house. “An e-mail just came in from one of my pledge brothers telling a story about another. A picture was included showing several of them goofing off at a hunting camp. All of these guys are my friends for life.”
Joe acknowledges that the university has changed from when he was an undergraduate. “There were 16,000 students in the ’70s, now there are over 30,000. That is a lot more women that would have told me ‘no!’”
He encourages the undergraduates to study hard, play hard, and remember that the real world is just ahead. “Everything is chicken, but the gravy.”
In his free time he enjoys cycling, yard work, raising kids and pets, and Alabama football. He is married to Lee Ann, whom he met while in medical school. They have four children: Kathleen (23), Ann Stewart (20), Charlotte (18), and Joseph (16). Joe and Lee Ann live in Mobile. Last fall his youngest daughter, Charlotte, moved into Tutwiler, just as her two older sisters had done, all three are Kappa Deltas. “The cycle repeats.”