Gerald L. Kurowski was born on November 13, 1941, and grew up on the family farm in Oneida, Wisconsin located on Seminary Road with his parents Peter and Grace Kurowski and his siblings, Loretta Metoxen, Shirley Hill, Kenneth Kurowski, Patricia Cornelius, and Linda Mercier. Gerald married Gloria Hill on November 12, 1964, and has two children, Jennifer (Rod) Hill and Jason (Nikki) Kurowski and has 10 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Gerald loved playing all sports and would listen to the baseball games on the radio every chance he had. Gerald played baseball in Oneida since the start of the Pony League in the 1950s under Coach Noran John. Since the age of 13, Gerald has played baseball in the Men’s League for such baseball teams as Van’s Valley, Garsow’s, Oneida Mission Team and the Seymour Kiwanis Club Team. In 1959, on the Seymour Kiwanis Club Team, Gerald played alongside his good friends Ronnie John and Bernie Cornelius, and that year the team went undefeated. Gerald retired from the League after the 1972 season, and that year he played Bonduel for the Championship and lost 4-3 in 14 innings.

Gerald also played and lettered in football and baseball all four years at Seymour High School. After high school he joined the United States Marine Corps. Gerald played football for the First Marine Division, on the team Marine Strikers from 1962-1963, and they won the Far-East Inter Service Championship in 1962. The team was made up of professional, semi-professional, college graduates and high school athletes. The Marine Strikers was a very competitive team, and the team only lost one game all season. Also, in 1962 Gerald played in the first Military

Bowl game; Marine Strikers vs. 7th Division Bayonets, Korea Co-Champions. The Marine Strikers took the win and beat the 7th Division Bayonets.

On July 21, 2001 Gerald was inducted into the Oneida Nation Hall of Fame.