Gary Lee Carder

Born in Madison, Indiana, Gary was the middle of 3 siblings. His early years were spent traveling with his family to various Army postings all over the world.

Gary attended college at UMKC where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies. This eventually led him to KCTV5 where he met his wife, Pam, while testing a scissor lift for a project. While at KCTV5 for 35 years, Gary held various positions, eventually retiring as a News Director.

He had a great curiosity for all things – and was a wealth of knowledge on many topics. His time spent in the broadcast business inspired a deep love of television series and movies. We spent many hours watching and discussing our favorites and laughing or dissecting them.

Those that knew him knew the silly interior that lay behind the seemingly gruff exterior. He could never take a picture without a funny face and loved to make people laugh. He loved being with his family and friends and valued the experiences he could share with them. Later in life he developed close friendships that he was thankful for and valued greatly.

Gary loved to travel, and we had many wonderful adventures in our 35 (!) years together. He was an avid snow skier and scuba diver, and those pursuits created numerous memories and took us to many locations over the years. One of his favorite places was Lake of the Ozarks and we were lucky enough to make lots of memories with friends and family over the years. Or, he was happy to sit quietly and enjoy the serenity of a peaceful weekend. He was an avid football fan and Saturdays and Sundays during football season were always his favorite days of the week. He also loved projects and was always tinkering with things to come up with improvements.

Gary married Pamela Ostertag in 1990. They met at KCTV5, and their mutual friends worked to set them up and were sure they were “perfect” for each other. Turns out they were right! During his life, there were always numerous fur babies in our family, and he became passionate about Scottish Terriers.

Gary is preceded in death by his father, Donald Allen Carder, and mother Lou Wanda Harrison Carder.

He is survived by his wife, Pam; his sister Cheryl Carder DelViscio and brother-in-law Richard DelViscio; his sister Debi Carder Pettitt and brother-in-law Randy Pettitt; his father and mother-in-law Larry and Helen Ostertag; his brother and sister-in-law Chris and Laura Ostertag and his cousin Keith Schreiman. He loved his nieces and nephews and took immense pride in their lives and achievements.

His life will be celebrated at his home following a private inurnment at Church of the Resurrection in Leawood. For those of you that attend church there, please stop by the memory gardens when you are there and say hello.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to KC Pet Project (link):

https://donate.kcpetproject.org/team/606955?is_new=true

To share a memory of Gary or leave a special message for his family, please visit the guest book below.