Gerald John Innocenti

Gary was born on February 17, 1945 in Pittsburgh, PA, the son of Joseph and Edith (Barsotti) Innocenti.

Gary grew up in Pittsburgh and graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 1969 with a degree in electrical engineering. After graduating he worked for Westinghouse in Pittsburgh and, in 1981 moved to Phoenix, Arizona, with his family, to work at Honeywell on computer software for power projects and then development engineering.

He enjoyed many sports including racquetball, boating and waterskiing on Lake Powell, and organized many houseboat vacations at Powell that became a frequent summer event with his wife Sandy, who he met in 1993 and married in 1999. Gary and Sandy settled in Cave Creek where they enjoyed a beautiful life for 32 years full of adventures and loving family. They even visited Italy several times and had the opportunity to develop a deeper love of all things Italian. Gary adored his four grandsons and enjoyed spending time with his son, Brett.

Gary had a passion for sports cars and racing. He was a member of Arizona Corvette Racing Club and participated in many NASA track events. He had a competitive nature and expertise and his car was always one of the fastest on the track. The Ely, Nevada Open Road Racing (ORR) bug bit him in 2003 and he raced in the 120 MPH class in his 1989 Firebird, coming in 4th place. He ran his last race in 2019 in the 160 MPH class taking 1st place in his 2001 Corvette. He also raced in the Big Bend ORR in Fort Stockton, TX. His son, Brett, shared his racing passion and navigated in several races with him. Gary’s favorite saying was “When you’re racing, it’s life. Anything that happens before or after is just waiting”. Gary and Brett are racing now and having the time of their afterlife.

Gary is survived by his wife, Sandy, daughter-in-law Jennifer (Brett), step-daughter Alannah George (Shawn), grandchildren James, Max, Dominick (Brett), Rees (Alannah), and sister, Sandra Hoffman (Robert). Gary is preceded in death by his son, Brett, and his father and mother.

There will be a Celebration of Life for Gary after the holidays. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the American Parkinson Disease Association at [email protected]/community/arizona/resources-support-az/