Garrol Ray Tackett

Anyone who knew Garrol Ray Tackett knows he worked hard and celebrated life harder. The last years of his life were work — despite brain-stent surgeries and an Alzheimer’s diagnosis that suggested he should have been much more incapacitated, he and his wife were staples at Whisperz Speakeasy, making such friends with the owners and staff that they became family, till the very end.

He doggedly defied expectations, relishing the good things in life: family, music, friends (and top-shelf bourbon).

But on Nov. 9, he staged his final rebellion against the disease that had robbed him of so much: He passed away near 3:45 a.m., peacefully at Ohio’s Hospice of Dayton, with family at his side and the heartfelt love of so many others from around the country. He was 73.

It makes sense that, professionally, Garrol was an aerospace engineer — the man had a gravity that pulled people into his orbit for lifetimes. After leaving his hometown of Springboro, Ohio, he found the home of a 20-something’s dreams: a farm on Scatter Ridge, complete with horses, outside Athens and Ohio University.

After a chance meeting with Sue Detwiler, an OU undergrad, he invited her horseback riding and never asked another woman again. He eventually moved into her off-campus house on Stewart Street, shared with Mitch Endick, Annie (now also Endick) and Sherry Johnson, who lovingly called Garrol the big brother she never had.

In 1977, Sue Detwiler became Sue Tackett. The Scatter Ridge crew — Jim “Jed” Foote, Morty Graham and Dirk Radesovec — became lifelong friends, as did the Stewart Street housemates that became family. Dirk preceded Garrol in death, but his beloved blue MG Midget lived at Garrol’s final home in Miamisburg for decades.

At Hocking Technical College, Garrol pursued heat-processing technology and met Dave Ford. After graduation, they worked together in a Toledo research lab at the ground level of industry-changing innovation. Decades later, Dave would regale Garrol with details of their shared endeavors over numerous phone calls, always surprised at what he remembered when medical diagnoses would have predicted otherwise.

Garrol’s career eventually took him and Sue to Dayton, where they built a house in a Miamisburg suburb in 1988, among the neighborhood’s first. Soon, an entire community of young families comprised the area, and Sue and Garrol organized summer block parties and fall hayrides to cultivate early friendships. It worked. Again, their family continued to expand, and not just by way of their two daughters, Megan and Caitlin, the latter of whom goes by her pre-ordained nickname (Sue intentionally chose “Anne” as a middle name), Cat.

The neighborhood family remains a bedrock for the Tacketts, forged through Jimmy Buffett-themed parties on the back deck Garrol built and countless basement karaoke shenanigans.

Nobody ever called a noise complaint, because everyone was already there, part of the raucous.

While his career was literally out of this world — from Toledo to GE Aerospace’s Elano to a SpaceX vendor, with two patents to show for it — his base was always family. He took pride in his work with lasers, but he took joy in crafting upscale doll furniture, a hobby horse, and a two-story clubhouse complete with a swinging bridge that connected to the backyard hilltop for his children.

He cherished holidays, never missing an opportunity to buy flowers and chocolates for all three of his girls on Valentine’s Day, making sure the family jack-o-lanterns were so impressive that not even mischievous preteens dared smash them on Halloween, and proudly placing the crowning Santa Claus atop the family Christmas tree (the chaotic one in the family room, decked in as much tinsel as ornaments, while Sue carefully curated the one in the living room).

He inherited his love of travel and music from his parents, Denzil and Ruth Tackett. He fondly recalled family road trips to Yosemite and Banff, and happily drove his own family to Hocking Hills and Rocky Mountain National Park, or flew them to Hawaii and Cancun.

There is no separating Garrol from his lifelong love of music. He played guitar with his father as a child and later inherited Denzil’s beloved Martin acoustic. For his 40th birthday, Sue gifted him a Fender Stevie Ray Vaughan Stratocaster. It became his “pride and joy,” and he never squandered an opportunity to blare his amp the moment Sue left to run an errand — to his daughters’ absolute delight.

Garrol is survived by his wife, Sue Tackett, and daughters Megan Tackett, of Colorado, and Cat Tackett, of Wisconsin. He was preceded in death by his loving parents, Denzil and Ruth Tackett. A celebration of life at Whisperz Speakeasy will be announced at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association through Cat’s fundraiser honoring Garrol at bit.ly/Garrol.

Condolences may be sent in Garrol's name to www.tobiasfuneralhome.com