The following is something that my dad wrote about Gary while he was reading all of your posts and comments throughout the night. I felt that I should share this with the rest of you that did not know Gary like we did. We saw Gary almost daily, and he was a huge part of our lives.
"I’m sitting here in front of our computer in the middle of the night, for nine hours now, reading all these messages, balling my eyes out. It is now 24 hours to the minute since we lost Gary (2:45 am, 5/14/04). You see, I don’t use a computer, nor do I know how, until tonight. I sit here watching the views numbers climb on Dave Dudek’s post; it’s almost 7000 now. When I called Dave from work at 6:45 am and woke him and told him the awful news, I asked him to post the news. Later on he told me he hesitated to post it because he couldn’t believe it. I know how he felt because I received the same phone call from Russ Aderholdt, who is like a brother to Gary and Nikki. Russ was also balling his eyes out over Gary, and I could hardly understand him.
I work third shift, as Gary did, and was getting ready to leave work. On my way home I had to pass right past the accident scene. It wasn’t until I got there that I realized how horrific it was. I stopped my car and got out with tears flooding my face. The officers were doing their investigation. The road was closed and I stood on the southbound side of I-75 looking at what was obviously a high-speed impact. I can tell you that Gary did not suffer.
To those of you that are not from the area, the latest word is that not only was the person Gary had arrested was drunk, but also the 21 year old male that had just left a party where he was celebrating his graduation from Fire Fighters school. He t-boned Gary in the driver’s door at a reported 100+ miles per hour. This drunk driver had prior offences and had previously had his license suspended for DUI when he was 17 years old.
The loss of Gary is senseless and far-reaching as all of you have shown. I can’t help but to think of the old saying, “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.” I, for one, was not fully aware of how far-reaching Gary’s kindness was because I have not been a part of this forum. I can only tell you how kind he was to us. Like so many of you have said, the last time you talked to him, he was offering his help. Gary was at my house at the beginning of the week to return tools and was offering to help me powerwash and stain my deck. It’s funny, the last time my deck was cleaned and stained, Gary did it. He did it then because I didn’t have time, and he was offering again because I didn’t have time.
Jack Jr. said to me tonight, “Dad, I want you to read something.” It was a post on Gary’s website. Gary was praising Jack Jr. on his character and his ability. Jack Jr. said that post was almost two years ago, and I had never seen it before.
We may have lost something by not being more involved in the Moparts website, but we gained by being so lucky to have had Gary in our lives. It wasn’t until tonight that I realized how special Gary really was, and that was because of all of you and all your kind, heartfelt thoughts and feelings that you all have shown.
I remember the first time I met Gary. This was before Moparts, before Gary owned a Mopar, before he ever even attended a Mopar Nationals. He showed up in my driveway wanting to buy my 1970 Charger. Jack Jr. and I had just brought it out of storage and was unloading it off the trailer when Gary showed up. It’s funny, for some reason we took to Gary right away. With dust all over the car and only knowing Gary for a few short minutes, I asked him if he wanted to go for a ride. With no plates or insurance on the car, we were off for a ride in a car that had been in storage for five years. The dust was flying off the car and Gary was smiling ear-to-ear. We were only a few miles down the road when I looked over at Gary and asked him, “Can you drive a four-speed?” He said, “I think so.” I soon pulled over to the side of the road, climbed out of the driver’s seat and said to the guy that I’ve known for about 15 minutes now, “Well, let’s find out!” He jumps out, runs over to the driver’s side, climbs in, and, well, you know the rest of the story. That was only seven or eight years ago. Soon after that the Mopar Nationals were coming up and we asked Gary if he was interested in going. Well, I can tell you that we didn’t have to ask twice!
This is a picture of Gary and the rest of us at Gary's first Mopar Nationals in 1997, and the above mentioned '70 Charger. I’m grateful for the friendship Jack Jr., Daren, my wife, Lisa, and myself, have shared with Gary and Nikki. And also for the wonderful example of a man he has been to both my sons. Now we have to figure out how to go on without him and his kindness and compassion. Hindsight is always 20/20.
There is so much to say about Gary from those of us who lived with him on a day-to-day basis. First and foremost his wife Nikki, but also his daily buddies like Russ, Jack Jr., myself, and also the people he would drop in on. I’m sure you will be hearing from these people as soon as they can handle even talking about it. I say this because I want everyone to know just how tragic and devastating this has been for all of us immediate friends of Gary’s here in our area, and there are lots of us. I can’t mention all of you and hope you understand. I will leave it to you to let your feelings be known because everyone, I’m sure, had a special relationship with him.
As for a tribute to Gary, at the Mopar Nationals this year, I will tell you that we are planning to have his car there with us. We haven’t talked to Nikki, his wife yet because the time is not right, but knowing Nikki, I’m sure she will approve. It will be in our pits, so look for the flamed-out motorhome (Hot to Trot) flying the American flag, as always, and, hopefully, in the special area for the F.A.S.T. cars (Factory Appearing Stock Tire) class. I’m sure by having his car there for a tribute will snowball. Gary always had that effect. To him, the more the merrier when it came to his Mopar buddies."
Thank you, Jack Irons Sr.
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