Joseph A. Gentiluomo

Joseph A. Gentiluomo, age 101, of Schenectady, New York was a Staff Sergeant in
the United States Army. He served in combat in the Pacific Theater during World
War II as part of the “Greatest Generation” of Americans who saved our world
from tyranny.

Mr. Gentiluomo served in the Army from 1942 to 1946 under the 59th Service
Group. After basic training, Mr. Gentiluomo attended the National School of
Aeronautics in Kansas City. He was later assigned to the machine shops at
various airfields in Santa Maria, Sacramento, San Bernadino, and the Mojave
Desert in California.

While stationed in the Pacific, Mr. Gentiluomo serviced B-24 Liberator bombers
on Angaur Island in the Palau Islands, and later Okinawa. Mr. Gentiluomo’s
technical expertise, as part of the team that helped repair and maintain American
aircraft, helped keep his fellow service members safe during military campaigns
in the Philippines, Ryukyus, and the Western Pacific. He was a critical part of
the overall war effort that contributed to victory in the Pacific against Imperial
Japan. Mr. Gentiluomo’s unit was later sent to Seoul, South Korea for post-war
occupation duty.

For his service and valor, Mr. Gentiluomo received numerous commendations and
awards, including the American Service Medal, Good Conduct Medal, the Asiatic-
Pacific Service Medal, and World War II Victory Medal.

After World War II ended, Mr. Gentiluomo returned home, graduated from RPI,
and worked for GE and IBM. He holds 28 patents including for different golf balls
and a mechanical hand that was used by NASA.

Most notably, Mr. Gentiluomo is the inventor of the modern bowling ball. Mr.
Gentiluomo’s bowling ball patent puts all the weight on the inside of the bowling
ball, giving bowlers more power to knock the pins down.

Mr. Gentiluomo was married to the late Orega Gentiluomo for 67 years. They
have two children, three grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.