GARY, Gene

The Wickenburg Sun, Wickenburg, Arizona Wednesday, August 06, 2014 Gene Gary passed away peacefully at his home in Wickenburg on July 22, 2014. Born on Aug. 31, 1937, in Bellingham, Wash., Gene spent part of his boyhood on his grandfather’s farm. He earned a bachelor of science degree in forestry at Oregon State University in 1963 and subsequently worked for Sequoia Forest Industries for a few years before earning a degree in business and becoming a stockbroker in Visalia, Calif., from 1965-1974. In the later 1970s and 1980s, Gene worked for Paine Webber in Merced, Calif., While there, Gene served as the president of the North Merced Rotary Club and gave the daily stock market report on the local radio station. When he retired, Gene moved to Oregon and started an organic garlic farm, moving on later to earn a degree in massage therapy at the Oregon School of Massage, a demanding two-year program that he completed in three semesters. Even though his deafness was increasing during this time, he worked as the principal therapist at a naturopathic clinic in McMinnville, Ore., until he retired a second time. Throughout his life, he grew an extensive garden from which he shared fruit and vegetables with friends, neighbors, and co-workers. Not one to slow down, Gene moved to Wickenburg, continuing to raise vegetables to share with friends and neighbors. He lived in Wickenburg for 10 years, during which time he was active in the local Rock Gem and Mineral Association. He loved the desert and knew most every mine location and dirt road leading thereto in western Maricopa County. One of Gene’s many interests was reading and literacy, and he was an early and staunch defender of the Wickenburg Public Library, as well as an early member of the Friends of the Wickenburg Public Library. He co-founded “The Group,” an association of townspeople whose desires to save the library were closely aligned with his. In the last few years his attention was drawn to the impending annexation of the Wickenburg Ranch development, which he felt was a mistaken venture by town officials. His political activities sometimes brought him into conflict with others, but he always had the best interests of the town at heart. His friendly, generous, and civic-minded spirit shone through all his pursuits. He is survived by four siblings, Doug Gary, Nelda Wise, Greg Gary and Shirley Agostino. Also surviving him are his son and daughter-in-law, Reese and Michele Gary; and daughter, Lara Gary. Gene did not choose to have a memorial service, but since it’s zucchini and tomato season, he would be tickled if his friends would share some garden veggies with a neighbor in his memory. A donation may be made in his honor to the Friends of the Wickenburg Public Library, Inc., PO Box 484, Wickenburg 85358.