Gary was born in Clarksburg, West Virginia, and went to middle school and high school in Ripley, West Virginia. In high school he was a First Team All-Conference Running Back his Junior and his Senior Years. He graduated from Ripley High School in 1964. During his Senior Year he was awarded the National Mathematics Award. He was inducted into the Ripley High School Football Hall of Fame in 2008.
After high school he attended Rutgers University where he played football his freshman year before transferring to West Virginia University Institute of Technology. He graduated in 1970 with a Batchelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering. While in college Gary served as Corresponding Secretary of the Student Government Association, as Vice President of the Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity, as Chairman of the Inter-Fraternity Council Greek Weekend Committee, on the Student-Faculty Committee for Student Discipline and on the Student-Faculty Grades Review Committee.
Following college Gary served in the US Army at the Headquarters of the US Army Criminal Investigation Command in Washington, DC. While there he was awarded the Army Commendation Medal for meritorious service.
Upon completion of his military service, Gary started his professional career at Union Carbide Corporation. He started as a Plant Engineer, moved to the Central Engineering Department as a Mechanical Design Engineer, transferred to the Engineering Purchasing Department as a Purchasing Agent before moving to Corporate Headquarters where he spent the remainder of his career in a variety of Corporate Management Positions. He lived in Newtown, Connecticut, during his 23 years at Corporate Headquarters. While at Union Carbide, Gary received lifetime certification as a Certified Purchasing Manager, was a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Business Travelers Association, and the Institute for Supply Management.
Shortly after starting at Union Carbide, Gary met his wife and lifelong partner, Karen Wherle. They were married in 1974. Of all the blessings Gary had experienced in his life he often said, meeting and marring Karen is the one for which he was most thankful.
After retirement from Union Carbide in 2001, Gary and Karen moved to Durham, North Carolina. His activities in retirement included serving on the Board of Directors for the Triangle Nonprofit & Volunteer Leadership Center (formerly the Volunteer Center of Durham) including a year as its President, serving on the Board of Advisors of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Duke University (formerly Duke Lifelong Learning Institute), as a member of the Duke Sports Club, as a member of the Durham/Chapel Hill Torch Club including two years as its President, and several years as a member of the Finance Committee of the Croasdaile Country Club. He was awarded the International Association of Torch Clubs Silver Torch Award in 2023 in recognition of the two years he served as president of his local club and his organization and management of the 2019 Three Day International Association of Torch Clubs Convention.
His hobbies included attending Duke Sport’s events (football, men’s & women’s basketball), playing golf, bridge, travel, the arts, and wine tasting.
Gary often told of how lucky he was to have spent most of his life in three wonderful cities (Ripley, WV; Newtown, CT; and Durham, NC) and to be blessed with great friends at every stage of his life.
Durham-Chapel Hill Torch Club 