Gary Ray Gipson

Gary Ray Gipson, beloved husband, father, grandfather and uncle, died on July 8th, 2025 at the age of 80 surrounded by his family in Lake Oswego, Oregon. Gary was born in Hatch, New Mexico to his parents Edna and Clifford Gipson on September 12th, 1944. Gary battled many ailments through the years, but ultimately lost his battle with cancer.

Gary was raised by his mother alongside his cousin Ronald “Ronny” Tucker in Winslow Arizona. He graduated from Winslow High School in1962. He was a very active student and athlete. He was Class Vice President, part of the Honor Society, Key Club, Spanish Club, played football as a Lineman (All-Conference and All-State), basketball as Center and ran track. He received his bachelor’s degree from Arizona State College (now Northern Arizona University) and received his Law Degree from the University of Arizona. He was a member of the Phi Kappa Phi and Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternities. After Law School Gary was recruited to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and started his career in 1969 where he was an Agent for 27 years.

While stationed in New York, Gary met the love of his life Gale Ann Dauernheim in 1971. After a short three-month courtship, they were married in Gale’s parents’ home on Long Island, New York. Shortly after they were married, Gary was sent to language school in Monterey, California. Gale and Gary remained on the West Coast after this transfer. Their two children, Laurie and Sharon were both born in Walnut Creek, California. After assignments in the San Francisco area and Santa Cruz, Gary was transferred to Portland, Oregon in 1985.

Gary was immensely proud of his work as an FBI agent. He was greatly respected for being fair, unbiased and compassionate in both his work and with his colleagues. He took the principle of “innocent until proven guilty” to heart. Using his law degree and investigative analysis skills he strived to get to the truth of his cases. Gary retired from the FBI in 1996 as the Supervisor of the White-Collar Crime Squad. After his retirement he immediately took a position as the Chief Investigator for the Medical Board of Examiners. This position was brief, and he soon turned to the private sector and for ten years he was an internal investigator for State Farm Insurance. He fully retired from work in 2007. In retirement, Gary remained active in the Society of Former Special Agents.

Above all else, Gary loved his family. Gary enjoyed road trips with his family. Many summers were spent driving down to Winslow to visit his mother and cousin. He would map out different ways of driving down and back that lent to visiting new towns, national parks, historical sites and visiting numerous friends along the way. Many winter trips were spent flying to New York to visit Gale’s family for the holidays. On Sundays after church, Gary loved getting the family in the car to explore the countryside outside of Portland. Gary adored his grandchildren. He would say, “Kellen is his favorite Grandson and Marleah is his favorite Granddaughter”. To know Gary, you know he would never show favorites! He was always fair and equal with a bit of humor sprinkled in.

After retirement, Gary and Gale would go to Maui every March and October. It was their special place. In 2011 the whole family celebrated Gary and Gale’s 40th Anniversary in Maui which started a tradition of the family going to Maui together every other October.

Gary’s friends and family would say that Gary was an introvert. He was gentle, kind, caring, fair, had a great sense of humor and a voice of reason. He enjoyed time spent with family and friends, he enjoyed sports, dogs, politics, telling stories and he was passionate about justice, and a believer in God. He truly was the best. He was a best friend, the best father, the best grandfather and the best husband. He will be missed dearly.

Gary is survived by his wife of 53 years, Gale Gipson, daughters Laurie Kunert (husband Peter) and Sharon Gipson-Barry (husband Abdoulaye), his grandchildren Kellen Blakely and Marleah Barry, his step-grandchildren Ella Kunert and Brady Kunert and his half siblings.