Gary A. Lotter

Gary A. Lotter, 84, of Fort Wayne, Indiana was born on December 24, 1940, as the second son to Betty Eisenberg and Lewis Lotter in Fort Wayne and died on Friday, March 21, 2025 in Huntertown, Indiana, with his beloved daughter, Andrea Crilly, by his side. Gary was married to the love of his life, Sherry Miller Lotter on September 7, 1964, and stayed married until her death on July 16, 2022. Although Gary remained a loving father, grandfather, great grandfather, brother, and brother-in-law, after Sherry’s death, he was lost without her.

Sherry and Gary were the proud parents of their daughter, Andrea (James) Crilly of Huntertown, Indiana and son, Marc (Nicole) Lotter of New Jersey. They were also proud grandparents of Spencer (Kelsey Hartig) Crilly, Kelsey A. Crilly, Corbin (Deana) Crilly, and Mackenzie (Brendan) Lotter Baldwin. Gary also had four great-grandchildren, Jacen Crilly, August Crilly, Lily Baldwin, and Henley Baldwin. Gary is survived by his brother, Dr. John (Luanne) Conley; sister-in-laws, Mary Nolan Lotter and Vicki Miller Luoma; and brother-in-laws, Lewis (Tamara) Miller and Chris (Janie) Miller. He was also a reluctant dog whisperer because all the family dogs loved him, and he is survived by his grand-dogs, Toast Crilly and Wrigley Lotter.

Gary loved Fort Wayne with all his heart and was involved in the community his whole life. He was an unofficial ambassador to the city of Fort Wayne- always praising Fort Wayne as the best city on earth.

As a young man he was involved in organized sports including golf, baseball, and competitive roller skating. Gary was always hardworking and driven. As a youngster he had paper route that had him up at 4 am and he worked until the start of school. He walked lugging newspapers until he could afford to buy himself a bicycle. He didn’t take time for breakfast so one of his customers would always be at the door with hot chocolate and a roll. As a high school student he worked at various jobs including as an usher at the Embassy Theater in the days the ushers dressed up in tuxedos. Before Gary was old enough to drive and able to purchase a car. He would walk many miles (often late at night) to arrive at work without ever missing a day or being late. Gary graduated from South side high school in 1959 and served in the Army Reserves until 1966. After high school he went into Stillman’s (Interstate Department stores) and convinced the management that he would be a great employee for their store. They took a chance on him, and he quickly proved his worth by being promoted to a buyer and department manager. He made frequent trips to New York on buying trips and fashion shows. He was so good at picking the new trends in Men’s fashion other stores in the chain ask him to buy for their stores too. Eventually fate intervened and he was sent to Hill’s Department store in Marion Indiana to take over the failing men’s department store. In a short time, Gary turned the store around until it was the most popular place for men to shop in Marion and the surrounding area. The most important part of this fateful move is Gary hired his future mother-in-law, Dorothy Miller, to work for him. Dorothy introduced Gary to her daughter, Sherry, and the rest his history.

In 1968, Gary left the retail business and fulfilled his dream of becoming a police officer in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He remained a police officer until his retirement in 1989 when he retired as a Master Sergeant. During the 21 years in the police department, he served in the patrol division both as a patrolman and a shift sergeant. He also served as a detective in the homicide/robbery division. He eventually was Captain of Detectives. What Gary was most proud of during his many years as a police officer, was in 1983, he founded the Greater Fort Wayne Crimestoppers program with no budget and no guidance. He went on to make Crimestoppers a very successful program in Fort Wayne. He then helped form 12 other Crimestopper programs in Northeastern Indiana and Northwestern Ohio and became an advisor to many programs across the county. He was a guest speaker at Crimestopper conventions both in the United States and internationally . He also served as an instructor at two international conferences. After Gary retired from the police force in 1989, he worked as a real estate agent for Mike Thomas & Associates until he finally retired - for good in 2005.

Gary and Sherry were frequent travelers to Florida and Branson, Missouri and often shared their trips with extended family. Gary was an avid baseball fan. He played as a catcher in fastpitch softball in various leagues around Fort Wayne and Marion. He coached Little League Baseball for both St. Joe Central and Georgetown leagues for 15 years . He also coached Bishop Dwenger for one year. Gary also was a purchasing agent for St. Joe Central Little League for 6 years . He attended ballparks across the country usually sharing the experiences with his son Marc.

As busy as Gary was with work and volunteering, his family was his priority, and he never missed the events in their lives.

Gary was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Sherry; his infant son, Jerry Lotter; his mother, Betty Eisenberg Lotter Conley; his brother, Jerry Lotter; his father, Lewis Lotter; and his stepfather, Dr. John Conley. Also, his wife’s parents, Lewis Miller and Dorothy Myers Miller; and his brother-in-law, Milton Luoma, Jr.

Gary’s legacy should be that he loved his family and tried his best to keep them safe and happy through his hard work, determination, honesty, and a lot of unnecessary worry.

He will be so missed but his family is comforted by the fact that he is reunited with his beloved Sherry.

Funeral service will be 11:00 am on Wednesday, March 26, 2025 at Greenlawn Funeral Home, 6750 Covington Road, Fort Wayne with visitation one hour prior. Visitation will also be from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm on Tuesday, March 25, 2025 at the funeral home. Burial will be in Greenlawn Memorial Park, Fort Wayne. Memorials in Gary's memory may be made to Wounded Warriors Project or Shriners Hospitals for Children. Condolences and memories of Gary may be left online at www.greenlawnmpfh.com