In 1971 when I was 15 years old I called a contact phone number for Muskegon that was listed in a Car Model magazine HO slot car racing article - it was Gary. I never would have guessed then that my chance phone call would be the start of a life-long friendship. A few years later we started going on bike rides and socializing with our girl friends.
After I moved to Indiana we maintained a long distance friendship for 35+ years. We would get together on the many occasions when my wife and I were back in town or he would come and visit us in Dyer. Over the years we went to the Chicago Auto Show, Great America, Road America, and shared a love of motorsports. Once in about 1985 he road from our home in Dyer, IN back to Muskegon in one day - 171 miles.
In 1994 Gary rekindled my interest in biking. I've got a photo of us with our bikes on that very day to remember it by. We did many rides together over the next 10 years including a few memorable rides on the North Country Trial and one idyllic August Sunday morning ride north of Michigan City along the Lake Michigan shoreline. It was a beautiful, crisp day with people out walking and rollerblading on glass-smooth asphalt. In 1998 we did the DALMAC ride together from Lansing to Mackinaw City. I was riding the same bike that I had when we started riding in the early '70s - a Fuji S10-S 10-speed. It was a little dated and clunky by that time. Gary said to a friend, "You can't believe what this guy can do with that bike." That offhand comment I consider to be one of the best compliments I ever received.
Gary was a rock in my life and you won't find a better friend. His passing has left a big hole that will be hard to patch. I'm going to miss him a lot . . .
Jim Wangerin
