Gunlock died Jan. 2 at age 95.
“Bill Gunlock’s dedication to business, athletics and education in the Dayton region will have a lasting impact,” Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Chris Kershner told the Dayton Daily News.
“As a local Dayton business owner, Bill understood the power of investing in your own community,” he added.
Gunlock’s son Randy founded RG Properties, a local company that manages more than 10 million square feet of commercial real estate throughout Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Kentucky, according to its website. His son Tom has served as president of Ohio’s State Board of Education and is currently chair of Wright State University’s Board of Trustees.
Services for Bill Gunlock are set for Saturday. In a career than spanned decades, the Miami University graduate’s work included serving as president of at the Cole-Layer-Trumble Company before starting his own full-service appraisal services and data processing company, Sabre Systems and Service, Inc., according to his obituary.
Sabre pioneered the development of a computer assisted appraisal program and other software programs used by local governments, growing rapidly before being acquired in 1989 by a New York Stock Exchange-listed company, his obituary states.
After receiving an athletic scholarship to Miami, Gunlock played on two Mid-American Conference championship teams under Woody Hayes and with Bo Schembechler as the school won the 1951 Salad Bowl, now known as the Fiesta Bowl, according to Miami records.
Gunlock joined the Army, serving a two-year stint at Brook Army Medical Center in Texas, where he played football prior to embarking on a coaching career, records show.
Stops included assistant coaching jobs at Heidelberg University, Bowling Green State University and the United States Military Academy at West Point before becoming defensive coordinator at The Ohio State University.
He helped all four programs to undefeated seasons and conference titles, according to Miami records.
In Columbus, he was reunited with Hayes and with Schembechler, and in 1961 the Buckeyes won a national championship.
Gunlock was inducted into the Miami Hall of Fame in 2008. Seven years later, the university started building the Gunlock Family Athletic Performance Center, a $20 million athletic facility.
Gunlock served on or was a member of a number of organizations. They included Miami University’s Board of Trustees, The Ohio State University’s President’s Club, the National College Football Foundation and Hall of Fame, the National Aviation Hall of Fame, the Foundation Board for the Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the National Rifle Association, the Moraine Country Club, the Dayton Agonis Club, and the Dayton Bicycle Club.
He also supported the Dayton arts community, including the Victoria Theatre, the Dayton Art Institute, the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, The Schuster Performing Arts Center, and the Dayton History Museum and Carillon Historic Park.
A funeral service will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 13 at Fairhaven Church, 637 E. Whipp Road, Centerville officiated by Pastor David Smith and will be followed by burial at David’s Cemetery. After the burial, family and friends are invited to a Celebration of Life reception at the Moraine County Club.
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