Visitation: SATURDAY: 3-7 pm & SUNDAY: 4-8 pm at The Dietrich Funeral Homes, Inc., 2480 Kensington Ave., Amherst.
Service: MONDAY: A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 am at Our Lady Help of Christians Chapel. NAAB – Eugene J., Jr.
“Dick”
October 14, 2014, beloved husband of
the late Arlene L. (nee Schuster) Naab;
loving father of Eugene J. (Jennifer)
Naab III; cherished grandfather of
Eugene J. (Kendyl Smeatin) Naab IV;
brother of Norman (late Audrey) Naab
and the late Erna (Gordon) Becker,
Merl “Moe” (Noreen) Naab, Jerome
(Mary) Naab and Mary Ann (Gordon)
Becker. Friends may call Saturday
3-7 PM and Sunday 4-8 PM at the
DIETRICH FUNERAL HOME, INC.,
2480 Kensington Ave., Amherst, where
prayers will be offered on Monday
at 9:15 AM followed by a Mass of
Christian Burial at Our Lady Help of
Christians Chapel at 10 AM. Memorials
may be made to Hospice Buffalo Inc. Online
condolences will be accessible on Friday at
www.TheDietrichFuneralHome.com Oct. 10, 1918 – Oct. 14, 2014 Eugene J. Naab Jr., a longtime bowling proprietor and businessman, died Tuesday at Hospice Buffalo in Cheektowaga after a brief illness. He was 96. Born in Buffalo, he was raised on Cambridge Avenue and attended St. Bartholomew’s Elementary School and Bennett High School. Greatly influenced by the Depression and seeing his family’s wealth eliminated, Mr. Naab learned as the oldest son the meaning of hard work and doing whatever necessary to survive. This lesson was evidenced by a successful bootleg brewing operation during Prohibition. After Prohibition, he and his father established Gene Naab & Sons, a wholesale grocery company servicing small stores and mom-and-pop operations from 1933 to 1950. During this period, the company developed its own line of colored sugar. An avid bowler, Mr. Naab became a night bowling manager at Franklin Bowl-o-Dome from 1938 to 1945 while still in the food business. In 1945, he borrowed money to buy an interest into Amherst Bowling Center as director of bowling operations. In 1950 he and a group of investors which included his brother in-law, Gordon Becker, built Southside Bowling Center at Elk and Seneca streets. Originally a 32-lane establishment, it was expanded to 50 lanes in late 1956, making it the first establishment in New York State to have 50 lanes without an obstruction. In 1959 he hosted the W.I.B.C. National tournament, which was the first time that the total tournament was held at a single venue and operated 96 straight days, still a national record. Over the years, Mr. Naab hosted state and local tournaments. A believer that bowling was a family and working-class sport, he operated on the premise of delivering a quality experience at an affordable price. He established several bowling innovations including in-house and traveling youth bowling leagues, bowler appreciation days and an in-house banquet facility. At the time of his retirement in 1979, Mr. Naab held various offices in the Bowling Proprietors’ Association of America at the national, state and local levels as well as Buffalo Bowling Association. He was still active and president emeritus of the Western New York Bowling Proprietors at the time of his death. Mr. Naab’s other business interest during his lifetime included investments in Enviro Gas, P&S Drilling, Aztec Resources and First Health of Florida. Along with brothers, Norman and Jerry, he also operated JEN Development until his retirement. His wife of 61 years, the former Arlene L. Schuster died in 2006. Survivors include his son, Eugene J. III; a brother, Norman; and a grandson. A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 10 a.m. Monday at Our Lady Help of Christians Chapel, 4125 Union Road, Cheektowaga.