Tedisco Inducts 101-Year-Old Joseph Gentiluomo, Schenectady World War II Veteran Who Invented Modern Bowling Ball, Into NYS Senate Veterans Hall of Fame & Honors Him with Liberty Medal

CLIFTON PARK -- Senator Jim Tedisco (R,C-Saratoga Springs) today joined the family of Joseph Gentiluomo of Schenectady, a World War II veteran who holds the patent on the modern bowling ball, to induct him into the New York State Senate Veterans Hall of Fame and present him with the Liberty Medal, the Senate’s highest honor.   

Mr. Joseph Gentiluomo is a World War II U.S. Army veteran who served in Okinawa and Korea.  An RPI graduate, Mr. Gentiluomo worked for GE and IBM and holds 28 patents including for different golf balls and a mechanical hand that was used by NASA.  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.  

“Joseph Gentiluomo is a World War II hero and a member of the ‘Greatest Generation’ of Americans who defeated tyranny and set the course for decades of prosperity for our country. After the War, Joseph came home, raised a family, and became an amazing inventor whose creations have been used by NASA, and his work led to the invention of the modern bowling ball. I’m proud to present Joseph with the duo honors of being inducted into the New York State Senate Veterans Hall of Fame and receiving the Senate’s Liberty Medal. These are the state Senate’s highest honors for New York State citizens,” said Senator Jim Tedisco. 

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

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

He received numerous commendations and awards for his service including the American Service Medal, Good Conduct Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Service Medal, and War II Victory Medal. 

After World War II ended, Mr. Gentiluomo returned home and 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, Joseph Gentiluomo is the inventor of the modern bowling ball. 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.  

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