Gary Lou Sterkel

Gary was born on November 30, 1946 to Henry and Marie (Fagler) Sterkel. The family farmed in Loveland, Longmont and the Mead area until his dad passed when Gary was 8 years old. His mom never remarried and raised 4 active ornery boys on her own. He received his G.E.D. from Longmont High School.

Gary married Karen Silvestri on July 19, 1969 at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church. He passed one day shy of their 54th anniversary.

Gary drove a truck for many years with companies such as North American Van Lines, Boulder Denver Truck lines, Golden Gravel, Aggregate, Inc before retiring from American Pride Coop in 2009. His biggest accomplishment was owning and operating Quality Auto Tune.

In his free time Gary enjoyed fishing with the grandkids, watching boxing and WWE with his daughters, bodywork and painting cars, boating, and having pool parties with family and friends, and watching the Barrett Jackson car show.

He was preceded in death by his parents and three infant brothers.

He is survived by his wife Karen Sterkel of Longmont; his daughters Karie (Jay) Docheff of Longmont and Jamie (Miguel) Mendez of Mead; his grandchildren Casey and Jaycee Docheff of Longmont, Caleb, Kylee and Calvin Mendez of Mead; his brothers Larry, Duane and Darrell Sterkel all of Longmont and numerous nieces and nephews.

A Celebration of Gary’s Life will be held at 10:30am Saturday July 29, 2023 at Faith Community Lutheran Church. Please drive your classic cars for all to see and dress casual, as that is how Gary would want it to be. Reception to follow at Gary’s Daughter and son-in-laws house.

In lieu of flowers memorial contributions can be made to Accent Hospice 4065 St. Cloud Suite 200 Loveland, CO 80538 or Faith Community Lutheran Church 9775 Ute Highway Longmont, CO 80504 or The TLC Learning Center 611 Korte Parkway Longmont CO 80501.