PROFILE: Arch DeGeer was born at Coffeeville, Kansas in 1898. DeGeer spent most of his life involved with greyhounds. DeGeer passed away in May of 1970 in Miami, where he had made his home. Arch DeGeer was added to the PIONEER section of the Hall of Fame in 1982.

HISTORY: Arch DeGeer acquired his first greyhound at the age of 7. “One day in Coffeeville,” he once said, “the blacksmith asked me to take a sack of greyhound pups out to a nearby farm. If I did, he said I could take my pick of the litter”. Sixteen years later, in 1921, DeGeer was one of the kennel owners at the first complete racing season ever at Tulsa, Oklahoma. In 1927 he came up with the greyhound he ranks as his best ever, CARETAKER, IMP.. For the rest of his life, Arch ran racing kennels from one end of the country to the other. In his five decades in the industry, DeGeer may have raced at more race tracks than any other person in the history of the sport.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Arch DeGeer captured his first derby in America with SMOKEY HILL BUCK, the winner of the Tulsa Derby. DeGeer helped improve the greyhound breed with his importation of such greyhounds as SQUEERS, BY NO MEANS, and CHOCOLATE CANDY. DeGeer designed a muzzle that would become standard equipment in the industry. Arch DeGeer’s most famous greyhound was a coursing champion, GOLDEN SAHARA, IMP. who was enshrined into the Greyhound Hall of Fame in 1965.