Garrison "Gary" Stannard

Passed away on September 15, 2012 at Windsor Regional Hospital, Met Campus at 76, after a courageous battle with cancer. Beloved husband of Carol for 55 years. Loving dad to Kevin (Spank) and Beth Ann, Patti and Grant Gibb. Gramps to Mark and Ryan Tumminello and Cameron and Dallas Gibb. Dear brother of Brad (Joanne 2010); brother-in-law of Reg (Helen 2005) Spencer and Jean and Larry Smith. Gary will be sadly missed by his dog Snuggles. He is survived by many nieces and nephews. Predeceased by his father Harry (1976) and his mother Lucille (2004), father-in-law Charlie (1997) and mother-in-law Elsie (2006) Spencer. He will be fondly remembered as "Gramps" by hundreds of hockey players, coaches, parents, etc who passed through Adstoll and/or Riverside Arenas to get their skates sharpened. Gary really enjoyed playing cards, especially Pepper with his friends, golfing, and was a salesman for Murphy Distributing for 44 years. Cremation has taken place. The family will receive friends at the Walter D. Kelly Life Celebration Centre, 1969 Wyandotte St. E. on Wednesday September 19, 2012 from 2-5pm and 7-9pm. A memorial service to celebrate Gary's life will be held on Thursday September 20, 2012 at 11am at Riverside United Church, 881 Glidden Ave. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to Riverside United Church General Fund, or Family Respite Services.

GARY’S JOURNEY

Gary was born on February 5, 1936 to Lucille and Harry Stannard. He had an older brother, Bradley who was born in 1934.

He went to J.E. Benson Public School and while there, became the Yo-Yo Champ of the school. He travelled around the city competing with the other schools. I don’t remember just how the championship played out. Gary had a paper route for the Windsor Star and also delivered groceries on his bicycle. Gary could sleep anywhere, anytime. His mom found him once sleeping in the sandbox and also on the back porch. He loved ice cream….used to tell us he would eat a brick at a time (which would be approximately half of the ice cream containers now). Gary and Brad’s grandfather “Tiny” Stannard was the drum major with the Police Pipe Band and the boys would follow along beside their grandfather while parading the streets of Windsor.

Gary went on to high school at Patterson Collegiate which used to stand at Goyeau and Tuscarora. In June 1953, Gary got a part-time summer job at Murphy Tobacco Ltd. (later to become Murphy Distributing Ltd.). When it came time to return to school, Gary didn’t like that idea; he loved working, therefore, starting his long tenure of 44 years at Murphy’s.

He started as a warehouseman and moved up the ladder to a truck driver and then after a couple of years became a salesman, which he was very successful at. Most of Gary’s district was in the County….from Chatham to Wheatley to Amherstburg and one day a week in Windsor. His customers loved his honesty and work ethics and for many years, Gary was top salesman. During his tenure with Murphy’s, he was awarded numerous trips, sponsored by ITWAL. He won several trips to Jamaica, Florida, and Scottsdale, Arizona. During one of these trips to Florida, he was fortunate to play golf with a pro named Ray Floyd. He retired in June 1997, after 44 years. He was presented with a gold watch for his service.

While working at Murphy’s, he joined a bowling league with his family at Windsor Bowling Alley. His dad worked for the Windsor Utilities, Water Division, as a Filter Operator, and bowled with the Water-Hydro League. I graduated High School in June 1954 and was hired as a Secretary to Hudson Strickland, who was Supervisor at the Yard Office of the Water Division. I also joined the bowling league that fall and that is where Gary and I met.

Gary and I had our first date on November 18, 1954. We took the Detroit Tunnel Bus to Detroit and went to the show and saw The Barefoot Contessa (don’t remember much about it). We saw each other about once a week after that and became engaged on December 25, 1955. We loved to ice skate and would often go to Bothwell with friends skating. We also loved to watch the Windsor Bulldogs (now Windsor Spitfires) play hockey both here in Windsor and quite often with my mom and dad went to neighbouring cities (London, Kitchener, etc.) to cheer them on.

While still at home with my parents, I cooked the first meal for Gary, and it was a huge success. It was Salisbury Steak and onions and mashed potatoes and corn. It became a favourite of ours for years to come.

We got married on June 15, 1957 and were married for 55 years and 3 months. Every year, without fail, Gary gave me roses for our anniversary…one rose per year. When we got to our 13th anniversary, he started getting me a large rose for each 5 years and then a smaller rose for the years in between, so that year I got 2 large roses and 3 smaller ones. On our 50th Anniversary, Gary gave me 50 beautiful red roses. He was not able to get out and get me my roses for our 55th, so I bought them and gave them to Gary. He felt badly that he was unable to get out and purchase something for me for our Anniversary, so he collaborated with Patti-Ann to find something that celebrated 55 years of marriage. She found 2 or 3 things, and brought them to the hospital for her dad to select for me. He chose a beautiful emerald ring and gave it to me just before he passed away and said, “I love you”. Those were the last words he spoke.

During our marriage Gary played hockey with the guys a couple of times a week in the Civic League and Custom Brokers League. In one of his games, Gary scored 7 goals and the caption in the paper the next day was “Riverside Romps with Stannard”. On another occasion, he got hit in the eye with a puck (just before Patti-Ann was due to be born). He was lucky he didn’t lose the eye. His employer was not at all happy with his extracurricular activities, so Gary gave up playing contact hockey. Gary was a staunch Maple Leaf fan until he died and was ever hopeful that they would win the Stanley Cup.

We bought our first house from my mom & dad in the spring of 1960 – 1523 Goyeau St.

Our first child, Kevin Garrison, was born on December 13, 1960 and later picked up the nickname of Spank which has stuck with him since his high school days.

Our second child, Patricia-Ann, was born on March 14, 1963 and our family was complete. Oh, we had such great times with our kids growing up. After Patti-Ann’s birth, we got our first black and white long-haired kitten named Puffy.

We bowled and went to Jamaica with our good friends Cliff and Bea Pearce, and Bea is still my best friend after all these years. Gary loved working outdoors around the house. The lawn and gardens were always immaculate.

In 1964, when Patti-Ann was just past 1 year old, we went on our first camping trip, in a tent, with Evelyn and Glen Rigney and their family to Sibbald Point which is located on Lake Simcoe. Patti-Ann had just learned to walk and Kevin was 2 ½ years old. What an adventure that was. We went camping every year after that and progressed from tenting to an Apache with just sleeping accommodations, to a Bellevue with kitchen facilities and then 2 different Starcraft Campers. Every year we would cook a roast in the ground to the amazement of our camping neighbours. Once we forgot to mark where the roast was and the only way we found it was to walk in our bare feet to find the warm area in the ground where the roast was cooking which was usually near the fire pit. All our neighbours would then gather round for the unveiling and saying no way would the roast be cooked and voila there it was for the tasting (which they all did). Great times. It was about this time that we got another cat, Muffin, a tortoise shell breed, and we had her for a little better than 23 years.

In 1970, we bought our present home at 1135 Virginia Ave., in Riverside.

In 1974, Gary joined A.C.T.--Associated Canadian Travellers, a club exclusively for persons in Sales. He held the office of President, was Bingo Chairman when Bingos were held in The Barn, the old Windsor Arena. ACT members organized raffles and raised monies to purchase vans for Arc Industries; bought the first Kidney Profusion Machine and purchased the first Jaws for Life and paid for the training of personnel to use it.

About this time, Gary tried curling. He joined a team that curled in the old Detroit Curling Club. The league then moved to Roseland Curling and he curled there for many years. His ACT club also had some members that liked to curl, so Gary joined in with them and went to many bonspiels throughout the Province, representing the Windsor Club. It wasn’t until Spank joined ACT and the curling team that they won their first bonspiel in Sault Ste.Marie. Spank always kidded his dad that it took him to join the team before they won anything.

Gary was a lucky man. He was forever finding money on the ground while walking around; won a car in the Brentwood Lottery and instead of taking the car, took the money and we purchased a new camper.

Gary loved to cook and eat, especially nuts of any kind, fish, ice cream-especially chocolate, he wasn’t fussy. I could cook him anything and he’d eat it and then let me know if it was a keeper or not. When I went out-of-town, on occasion, Gary would cook foods I didn’t care for and he would get his fill, e.g. Liver and Onions (and would invite Spank over for a feast); different species of fish, shrimp, etc. and his specialty was Meat Loaf—when I was home, Gary would make 2 meat loaves—a small one for me with no green peppers and one for himself that was loaded with all kinds of veggies, anything that was left over in the fridge. Gary’s drink of choice on a hot summer day or with friends was always Gin and Tonic with lots of lime slices (sometimes he had 1 or 2 limes cut up in his special G & T glass.

Gary didn’t care to go shopping, either grocery or gift items, etc. but once or twice a year he suggested a shopping trip to Bronners in Frankenmuth, Michigan for me to check out any new Dept. 56 village houses. Of course, we had to eat and ALWAYS went to the Bavarian Inn where Gary would order 2 meals of Chicken Livers—one to eat there and one to take home. He always said, “they melt in your mouth.”

In 1976, the four of us went west….right to Vancouver and places in between. We had a great time camping in the Rocky Mountains and enjoyed our stopover at the Calgary Stampede. We went to Biggar, Saskatchewan where my mom was born and found the school she attended and also stopped at the cemetery where Grandma and Grandpa Wright are buried. It was during this trip that Gary’s dad passed away and Gary flew home for the funeral and left us with my mom’s sister, Aunt Edith in Grand Forks, B.C.

In 1980, Gary took Kevin on a week’s vacation to Myrtle Beach golfing. What a fantastic time they had, just the two of them. When they returned home, Gary insisted that Patti-Ann and I go away for a week also, so we went to Orlando, Florida for a week when P.A. graduated Grade 13. That was also a trip to be remembered.

On October 22, 1988, our daughter married Grant Gibb, and they live in Amherstburg. In 2013, they will celebrate their 25th anniversary.

On May 22, 1993, our first grandchild was born, Cameron Grant Gibb, followed on April 13, 1995, by our second grandson, Dallas Garrison Gibb.

Oh, what a great time we have had with “our two boys”. We had a difficult time getting Cameron to laugh or even smile when he was a baby…..Grandpa got him to smile by doing his famous “flopsy-mopsy” dance. You would catch Gary doing it in the middle of a store if the music was just right….he always had us laughing.

From the time the boys were 2 or 3, we took them camping…..just “our boys” and us. People couldn’t understand why we would take two young boys (one still in diapers) on vacation. Well, we just loved it and have great memories of our trips together. We spent a couple of weeks in St. Louis, Missouri and the next year we planned a month long trip from Windsor, up to Sudbury and across Lake Superior to Thunder Bay, around Lake Superior and through Michigan and then home. After each trip, the boys were each given an album with maps, pictures, notes, brochures, etc. of places we’d seen.

On June 29, 1997, Gary retired from Murphy Distributing exactly 44 years to the day he started and on June 30, Spank gave his dad the opportunity he always wanted…to run his own shop/store. Gary had 2 dreams….to run a business…..own a truck. Spank was the owner of 2 Spank’s Skate Shops, one at the Riverside Arena and one at Adstoll Arena and he wanted his dad to run one of them. Gary chose Adstoll mainly because the shop was inside the rink and not in the lobby, therefore, he could watch the kids play. The year after Gary took over for Spank; Spank surprised him by removing the Spank’s Skate Shop sign and replacing it with one the read “Gramp’s Skate Shop”. What a proud day for Gary that was. Gary often received several Tim Horton coffees at a time from parents/grandparents of the hockey kids….he even received hot meals from some of them. Oh, he enjoyed those kids and they loved him. He had his picture taken with numerous “Tim Bits” and had the pictures on the counter under glass. Gary was notorious for giving out Double Bubble gum to the kids that scored a goal or just worked hard out on the ice. He was also known to take Canadian Tire money if the kids were short of cash for their purchases. He always received an invitation to attend the hockey banquet at the end of the season and the committee in charge always insisted he sit at the head table. When introduced, he always got a standing ovation. During the off season, Gary would make coat racks from old/broken hockey sticks which he sold at Christmas. Gary also had a supply of screws, nuts, etc. as well as some used equipment and the kids knew they could go and see “Gramps” if they needed some equipment fixed or needed a piece of equipment they had forgotten at home. He was known as “Gramps” to hundreds of kids, parents, grandparents, etc. that passed through the arena in over the 10 years the skate shop was open.

Also in June that year, Gary and I celebrated our 40th Anniversary with an Open House at Patti-Ann and Grant’s home in Amherstburg with family and friends. Rev. Jurrien and Norma Camman celebrated with us and we renewed our wedding vows.

In the spring of 2002, Gary fulfilled another dream – to own a truck. We purchased a Chevy S10 Pickup truck and later he had dual exhausts installed. He was forever cleaning his “baby”. In July of 2012, we sold the truck to our grandson, Cameron, and now it’s his pride and joy. Cameron got several of Grandpa’s ball caps that had reference to trucks on them. Gary was hardly ever without a ball cap on his head. I think he must have had 50 or so of them. Gary liked all kinds of music but his favourite was Country Western and Bob Marley and he played these tunes constantly while driving his truck.

On April 26, 2002, our son married Beth Ann Tumminello, who had been married previously and had 2 sons, Mark and Ryan. Unfortunately, we didn’t see as much of these boys as we would have liked as they finished their schooling in Michigan and didn’t want to move to Windsor. Next year, 2013, they will celebrate their 10th Anniversary.

In June, 2004, our good friends Bob & Monique Goyeau and Gary and I rented a houseboat in Bobcaygeon, Ontario, and went through part of the Trent-Canal System. We went through 17 locks all the way north to Kirkfield and south to Peterborough and had such an incredible time that we decided we would do it again on some other waterway. Unfortunately, we never seemed to have found the time. When we were finishing up this vacation, we received word that Gary’s mother had passed away.

In July of 2006, we drove to Cochrane, Ontario with Bob and Monique and met some other friends, Muriel and Ivor Chandler. We boarded a train for a ride to Moosonee for a 3 day excursion. Had a boat ride out to James Bay…..scenery was quite beautiful but desolate. Would not want to live here. A fantastic time was had by all.

On May 17, 2007, a new being entered our life….our dog, Snuggles. Boy, was he Gary’s dog. No matter where Gary was, there was Snugs. They were inseparable. We had always had cats and this was our first dog. He was 4 years old when we got him from friends of our nephew, Jeff, who lives in Waterloo. What a great pet he is.

On June 25, 2007, we celebrated our 50th Anniversary. Our children arranged an Open House for our family and friends in Camman Hall of Riverside United Church. We invited family and a few of our very closest friends to dinner at the Pomegranate (a favourite Chinese Restaurant) after the Open House.

In March, 2009, we purchased a park model trailer in Holiday, Florida, where we had 3 great winters there. We learned how to play Shuffleboard (which is similar to curling, but don’t have to put up with the cold). Gary loved this sport and last year was on the Championship team. He volunteered at the Pancake Breakfasts held in the park and last season was responsible for organizing a men’s monthly breakfast in which 25-30 attended. He also took up golfing again with his friends Russ , Bob and Guy, after being away from the game for 15 years or so. Gary was a Detroit Tiger fan and attended a couple of openers with Spank and my dad. We also took in several Spring Training games when they played the Blue Jays in Dunedin, Florida.

On May 13, 2012, Gary complained of “not feeling well”. I blamed it on the Shingles shot he had received on May 4th. After many, many visits to doctors and a 2 week stay in hospital the latter part of June and first week of July, we learned Gary had Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, T-cell and an aggressive type of cancer. On July 27th, Gary was again admitted to hospital where he passed away peacefully on September 15, 2012 with his family at his side.

Visitation for Gary was held at Walter D. Kelly Life Celebration Centre on Wednesday, September 19th, and the Memorial Service was held at Riverside United Church with Rev. Ann Rowsell officiating. Patti-Ann gave the following tribute to her dad at this service:

“February 5, 1936 DASH September 15, 2012

These 2 dates are significant in that they represent the beginning and the end of a life – my Dad’s life. But what is more important than these 2 dates is the DASH for the dash IS his life, his journey and his story. It is very much an honour and a privilege that I stand before you today to talk about my Dad’s DASH.

Dad was born February 5, 1936 to Lucille and Harry; he was the second born son, Brad was the first. He lived on Curry Ave. and spent many of his childhood summers up north with his Aunt Vera and Uncle George. Dad went to Benson Public School where he excelled in one particular area – he was the “yo yo champ”! Dad bragged about how he got to travel to other city schools to compete, by city bus; I don’t think he ever mentioned the results of those competitions, but that didn’t matter; all we knew was that he had a mean “rock the baby in the cradle”; and an awesome “around the world”…he would even “eat spaghetti” if the yo yo would “sleep” properly! Dad went on to attend Patterson Collegiate.

As a young man, Dad delivered newspapers and groceries on his bike as part-time jobs and told us stories of how in the summer when it was hot, after his deliveries, he would sit on the curb and eat a brick of ice cream. He still had that bike with the big metal basket when we were little and used to take us for rides sitting up tall and proud; we’d sometimes even stop to share a brick of ice cream, for old time sake.

Dad started with Murphy Tobacco June 29, 1953 as a part-time summer job making deliveries and working in the warehouse. He was hired on full time that September and retired 44 years later to the day. He was commonly known as “the candy man” during these years and loved being referred to as that. Spank and I were so popular among the neighbourhood kids, as you could imagine, our house was the place to be, not only did we provide the entertainment, yo yo tricks, but we also provided the snacks, the latest candy to hit the market!!

Mom and Dad met in 1954 at the bowling alley where they were both members of the Windsor Utilities Bowling League. Their first date was going by bus to Detroit to see “The Barefoot Contessa”. June 15th, 1957, three years after they met, they were married and just celebrated their 55th Wedding Anniversary.

Three years later, my brother was born and then 2 years after that, I came along.

My Dad cherished his family; he put the three of us ahead of himself, always. Some words that come to mind when I think of my Dad are selfless, giving, gentle and loving. He loved us and we loved him. Dad was our biggest cheerleader and supporter, he believed in us. He volunteered and attended activities and events we participated in; cub leader, booster club member, cook, chaperone; didn’t matter, he’d help out whenever and where ever he could. In fact, right up til he got sick, Dad would go out to support Spank umpire ball games, always with a couple of cat calls! You could count on him and anyone who knew him knew he was a man of his word.

Mom, Spank and I were number one in Dad’s eyes, that is, until the Grandkids came along! Spank and I slowly started to move down the list of priorities! The sun rose and set on those two boys according to Dad, ask anyone. He carried their pictures in his wallet and was constantly asking for updated ones to show his customers and friends, well actually he’d show anyone who would stand still long enough for him to get them out of his wallet! I remember being out at the mall with my boys and a total stranger came up to me and asked if that was Cameron and Dallas…it was one of Dad’s accounts! He was a very proud Grandpa!

Spank and I quickly slipped from playing second fiddle to the grand kids into virtual non existence upon the arrival of our four legged brother Snuggles. Everyone knew the relationship my dad had with his dog—I need not say anymore!

There was nothing fake, false or phoney about Dad; what you saw was what you got; you knew where you stood with him and he liked it like that. He had the gift of gab, he could and would talk to anyone, it didn’t matter. He most often was gentle in his approach except for the time at the mall selling raffle tickets, when he asked a lady who was about to purchase a ticket, when she was due---she wasn’t pregnant---we lost the sale!

When I was in University, Dad knew I didn’t have much money, so on the days when he was working in the west end, after class, my friends and I would run out to my car to see if Dad had been by and sure enough, most times there was a 5 dollar bill sitting on the seat of my car. He never asked for anything in return, that was just his way.

When Dad retired, Spank approached him to run one of his skate shops; he jumped at the chance, as it was always his dream to have his own store. Dad chose Adstoll Arena over Riverside Arena because the actual shop was in the rink area where he could watch hockey and have a constant flow of people pass by his window. Dad was a people person and he loved little kids; this was the perfect place for him. Before Dad got there one Saturday morning, Spank surprised him by hanging the sign Gramp’s Skate Shop; it was from that day Dad became known as “GRAMPS” to hundreds of coaches, parents and players. He knew so many people, he couldn’t go anywhere without bumping into someone…Florida, Vegas, anywhere; someone would holler out “GRAMPS”!

Dad was a pretty good cook too. Always at family gatherings when we would complement the dinner, Dad would comment, “well thank you, I worked hard on this”. This carried over to my work place, when he delivered still warm sticky buns…he would always be sure to let everyone know he was up at 2 a.m. so the dough balls could rise. Dad often took credit for the selection of Christmas gifts also. Trips to the mall for him were nothing but reunions. We would no sooner get inside when someone would holler out “Gare” or “Gramps”; I’d leave him there to talk while I did the shopping, come back in a half hour with a couple bags; he’d say “you’ll never guess who I bumped into and rattle off 2 or 3 names, then someone else would holler “Gramps” and away we go again. Most trips he never made it much past the entrance!

Dad also had a little bit of Medical background; his trusty hanky was the fixer of all medical emergencies if you just spit on the hanky and pressed it on the gaping wound hard enough, everything would be ok. However, there was the time he darn near cut his thumb off; even he admitted that no amount of pressure from his hanky could stop that bleeding. And then there was the time when Spank was walking up the driveway, the garage door was up half way and he could hear a power tool running. Dad was in there cutting off his own foot cast because it really wasn’t doing anything to help him anyway, so why keep it on. And lastly, when he was in the hospital about 3 weeks ago, the doctors wanted to change his medication to see if that would make a difference and when I told him what they were going to do, he very matter-of-factly stated, “I knew they were giving me the wrong sh…t”. Oh, Dad!!

I learned a lot from Dad: Always give 110% at whatever you do, so no one can fault you; your car becomes a lethal weapon when you’ve had something to drink and you can’t get into trouble if you tell the truth—Spank and I found out early on that last one wasn’t really true, we just didn’t get into AS MUCH trouble!

I also learned that Canadian Tire is the only place that accepts Canadian Tire money, despite Dad’s effort to convince other stores that on that particular day, they did too. Dad was a pretty good handyman, for the most part, but when faced with a difficult task he wasn’t quite sure how to fix, out came the duct tape and glue and a lot of glue! When Mom would complain about the glue mess, Dad would just paint over it” So Dad, here is some Canadian Tire money in case you find a place up there that will take it and you need some glue and paint.

Dad’s favourite gesture was thumbs up, nod, wink and smile and his favourite saying was “Oh Christ”!!! Once when Cameron was about 4 years old, he had come home from a weekend visit with Grams and Gramps, he was playing in the living room and I heard, “Oh Christ” and when I looked over at him he gave me the thumbs up (gesture).

So many great, great memories; so many laughs. My friend and colleague helped me through these last four months, having recently travelled a similar path with her parent; she helped me to see that this time with Dad was a gift and to make the most of it…and I did…we did!!!! Through it all, Dad never complained and never asked why, why him. He trusted the Lord and put his faith and life in His hands. Dad was my hero and he knew how much he meant to us and us to him, because we told him, nothing was left unsaid…we were all at peace.

When I first mentioned to Dad that I wanted to say a few words at his funeral, he said, “ok but don’t make it too long, just a few words”! I know he’s giving me the thumbs up (gesture) right now!

I asked him if he had any message he wanted people to know or anything he wanted to say to anyone, he said “yes”!!!! Treat other people the way you would want them to treat you, lead by example. That’s how I lived my life and that’s how your mother and I raised you kids. Do something for someone not expecting anything in return, do it because it’s the right thing to do. He went on to say “I am so grateful to God for such a wonderful family and for such wonderful friends; without those two things, you got nothing”.

These are Dad’s messages:

To Uncle Brad: Brother, try to park your car in the same spot or at least the same general area at the games, so you can remember where it is.

To Uncle Reg: Brother, keep cheering for our Leafs to at least make the playoffs this year.

To Uncle Larry: Have a gin and tonic with a couple or three limes for me at the first men’s club meeting.

To Mrs. Johnston: Now Margie, I’ll be watching your cards from above so “no cheating”!

To Greg St. Louis: Who fondly referred to my dad as “Mr. Spanky”—he loved that! Thanks for cutting the grass, but remember…not too short, ok and maybe you can do something about all that clover!!!!

To Grant: Keep it in the fairway and your stick on the ice! You’re a keeper!

To D man: Believe in yourself, Bubba! If you ever need to talk, good ol’ gramps will never be far away.

To Cameron: Don’t let that gas tank get below a quarter! If you do, you’ll start sucking up the junk from the bottom and plug up the filters.

To Spank: I thoroughly enjoyed all our morning coffee’s and conversations. Stop by for a visit sometime and don’t forget the coffee. Oh yah, and don’t let Greg cut the lawn too short, it’ll look like hell.

The butterflies are symbolic because before Dad took God’s hand, he promised to let us know when he arrived home safe and sound, by sending a butterfly…he kept his promise, that little white butterfly came Sunday morning in my backyard and again Sunday afternoon when we were all together at Mom’s.

And finally, I would like to dedicate this song by Bette Midler to my Dad, my buddy, my hero….You Are the Wind Beneath My Wings…This ones from me to you Pops…I love you more.………Your Precious Little Potty“ (Gary always fondly referred to Patti-Ann as this).

Gary is in his final resting place at Greenlawn Memorial Gardens. Internment was held on Friday, June 21st with all the family gathered around.

Unfortunately, on a final note, on November 4th, 2012, I had to have Snuggles put down. He had cancer, Lymphoma to be exact….same as his “Dad”. He went as quickly as his master did. Only found out he had cancer on Oct. 22. What another sad day for the family.

We have enjoyed our time together with our many friends and family…..sister Jean & Larry, brother Reg & Helen-who passed away 2005, brother Brad & Joanne-who passed away 2010….Ross & Margie, Shirley and Bob (our 6-handed Pepper card playing friends…..oh the great times we’ve had), Bob & Monique and Irene & Jim and Mary Lou & Al, (I know I’ve left a few names out). Gary especially loved playing cribbage with Cameron and Dallas, especially making up new rules when playing with them….and they would say, “no way, Gramps, that’s not what the rules are” and they would all laugh….what a great sound it is to hear children laughing.

I could not have wished for a greater, more loving husband. Our life wasn’t perfect and we had our ups and downs, like other couples, but we loved each other very much. He was a fantastic dad, grandpa and friend. We enjoyed our life together, watching the kids grow up and seeing the fantastic adults they became. We were and are so proud of you all …..Kevin and Beth Ann…Mark & Ryan, Patti-Ann & Grant….Cameron & Dallas.