Gary Lee Harker

March 5, 1938 – September 21, 2017

Mr. GARY LEE HARKER, beloved husband of Kathy Harker of Magrath, passed away at the Raymond Hospital on Thursday, September 21, 2017 at the age of 79 years.

He is the loving father of Daniel (Cathy) of Pleasant Grove, UT, Kyle (Lisa) of Modesto, CA, and Ruston of Pasadena, CA. He is also survived by his 17 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren.

He was predeceased by his first wife, Karen Larson Harker.

Gary was born on March 5, 1938 in Cardston, to Sam & Rhoda Harker. He grew up on a farm near Glenwood, then studied at BYU graduating in Journalism.

In addition to writing for several newspapers across the province, Gary enjoyed being involved with the Boy Scouts, Fort Whoop Up, community theatre, and church activities.

He loved the outdoors, elephants, and Hawaiian pizza, but the chocolate covered ants were a one-time indulgence.

After a six-month battle with bone cancer, Gary died peacefully with loved ones nearby.

Friends may meet with the family from 10:00 – 10:45 am on Wednesday, September 27, 2017 at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – GARDEN PLACE CHAPEL (170 North Centre St., Magrath, AB). A Funeral Service will follow at 11:00 am, with interment to take place at 2:30 pm in Glenwood, AB.

In lieu of flowers, those who wish may make memorial donations to the Canadian Cancer Society (317 10 St. S., Lethbridge, AB T1J 2M7)

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LIFE AND TIMES OF GHAR

by Ruston Harker and Kyle Harker

Born in the shadows of the Rocky Mountains, Gary Lee Harker came into the world a full ten years after his next oldest sibling.  His only sister Helen was married by the time Dad was one year old, and he became an uncle before his second birthday.  Dad was raised on a busy sheep farm just a few miles away from Glenwood Alberta.  His chores included milking the cows in the wee hours of the morning. He would serenade them with the current top 40 hits, and dream of the fame and fortune that awaited him in the world.  His parents moved to warmer temperatures when Dad was quite young, so he was raised by his older brother Marv.  Dad was an excellent boy-scout and could build just about anything he set his mind to.  In grade 11 he built the best Milking stool the farm had ever seen.  Scouting and carpentry skills were hobbies that he enjoyed throughout his life.

Dad was a very smart man.  He graduated from high school a full year ahead of all his peers and  then set out to seek his fame and fortune down in the states. He started his path at Brigham Young University where he studied Print Journalism.  Although a shy, quiet type, Dad dated several young ladies during his time there.  One of the first dates he had was with a young lady that thought so highly of him that she wanted to cook him a filet mignon.  My dad being young and naive when it comes to types of food thought it was some fancy french food like escargot.  Instead of the filet he offered to make them both a tasty onion sandwich.  She agreed, and he prepared two sandwiches buttering the bread and slicing a nice sized onion. He told me it was very good sandwich, but fortunately the young lady would not want to date him again.

There was a new girl that caught his attention.  She was a new student at BYU, and had just moved from Hollywood… Dad had stars in his eyes over Karen Larson.

Shortly after he graduated, Dad got a dream job at the Edmonton Journal and moved back to Canada.  On his drive up to Canada he casually stopped by the Larson home in Sandy Utah to say good-bye to his sweetheart, Karen.  What sealed the deal was the goodbye hug she gave him.  He was not able to get that hug off his mind.  They corresponded for a time, Dad convinced Mom to move to Canada so they could continue dating for a year.  On a beautiful spring day in 1961 my Dad and Mother were married.

During those early years as a young reporter, Dad was assigned to stories across northern Alberta.  Eventually they packed up their home in Edmonton and their newborn baby boy Daniel Lee and moved up to Grand Prairie.  There Dad wrote the award-winning column “Pipeline to the Peace” for the Edmonton Journal… and was also awarded with another baby boy, a towheaded child… Kyle James.

After a brief return to Edmonton they again packed up the family for a new opportunity at the Red Deer Advocate.  Dad loved to tell me the story each year of Remembrance Day 1969 in Red Deer.  Dad was a busy reporter covering stories across the city.  Ruston John took his time entering the world, and arrived at 2am on November 11th, Remembrance Day.  After a night of no sleep, Dad checked into the office to let his colleagues know what had happened. His boss asked him to go cover the Remembrance Day Ceremonies occurring that morning.  Dad wasn’t too happy about this, but his boss explained that the birth of his son on such an important day would be something he should always remember… and so he attended the ceremony.

Eventually Dad packed up the family one more time for a shiny new job at the Lethbridge Herald.  He would spend several decades of his professional life there until he retired in the mid 1990s.  He spent these retirement years very active with travel, family, writing, church activities and enjoying life to its fullest.

So that’s the basic outline of Dad’s life.  But what made him such an exceptional person were the details.  Dry humor came very naturally for Dad, and his clever way with words made most interactions with him pleasant.  He was a gentle teddy bear, but in my circle of friends he was known as the Bear.    He loved to talk to people, the woman standing behind him in line at the check out, the store clerk at the Waterton gift shop, the guy watering his lawn… all were drawn into a friendly conversation with this man who remained curious about people’s lives. Over the past few days we’ve heard many times over, and over again “Uncle Gary was our favorite Uncle.”  He made each of us feel like we were his favorite son, nephew, granddaughter, neighbor, bank teller, waiter,… and on and on.

Seven years ago, Dad and I took a road trip out to Mesa Arizona to visit his parents home where he lived one summer break while he was attending BYU.  He spent the warm months holding flags in cotton fields, directing crop dusting planes on where to spray.  Once the planes were coming in and all lined up, he’d drop the flags and run for his life before being doused with chemicals.  We stopped by the small home his parents lived in, and let's just say the condition of the home and the neighborhood were more relaxed than when Sam and Rhoda lived there.  A short ornery man came out scratching his belly and looking mean, so of course Dad had to go talk to him.  Twenty minutes later the two were old friends and Dad knew more about the home and the community.

We need to mention that Dad loved cars, but more so, he loved shopping for cars.  I grew up believing when you bought a car you had to take it for several test drives, and put a lot of research and time into purchasing every car.  His favorite vehicle was a two-door green dodge charger.  It was huge, and comfortable, and went through a litre of gas just turning on the ignition.

His love of cars well suited his love of travel.  Dad enjoyed packing up the family, or just his wife, or a boy, or anyone who wanted to join him and drive off to see the world.  He was always looking for new ways to get from point A to point B.  We clocked a lot of miles roaming across Southern Alberta, the Rocky Mountains, British Columbia and the NorthWestern United States.  He would often drive hundreds of miles off his path to stop in at relatives and friends homes.  Dad would say his pinnacle of travel took him to Europe for a month with his wife, sister, brother and their spouses.  He took pictures of everything, and came home with amazing stories.

Dad was a great story teller.  He’d keep us kids from getting bored on long road trips with ghost stories.  He liked watching movies at home or the theatre and also enjoyed attending live theatre.  He even acted in a few productions in Red Deer and Lethbridge.  When I was in High School Dad and I both auditioned for the Lethbridge Musical Theatre production of Hello Dolly, and we were both cast in the chorus.  Now, Dad enjoyed singing, and his dancing was… okay but he’d agree that he was no Gene Kelly.  When Hello Dolly wrapped up we attended the awards banquet, and Dad was not only nominated, but he won best Freshman performer that year.  How far he’d come from singing for the cows, to now an award-winning actor.  With his new found fame and critical acknowledgement of his craft, he went on to act in several theatrical productions across southern Alberta.  His last performance was in this summer’s short film production “The Dragon Hunter” which was loosely based on his brother Herb’s short story of the same title… now streaming for your viewing pleasure on YouTube.  Write this down “The Dragon Hunter - Harker Happenings” and do a search tonight.

The farm life and the great outdoors from his youth stuck with Dad for all his life.  He loved camping, packing up the car with everything that would fit and driving into the wilderness.  I feel that when his family grew too restless with spending their nights under the stars, that Dad took on a larger role within the Scouting organization.  He’d organize camps, and hikes and worked with many groups across the city.

For the last several years he’d meet with a small group of good friends once a week for lunch, a group he lovingly referred to as the Curmudgeons.  Each week they pick a restaurant and a topic of discussion.  I was fortunate to join the Curmudgeons on one or two lunches.  They’d discuss their topic for a few minutes, and then get carried away with talking about aches and pains, and they were kinda grumpy, and discussion could get a bit heated, but like Dad, they all were curious and had a wink and a half smile as they’d argue.  We have several Curmudgeons here today, and I’d like to thank you for giving Dad a place to go every week and have something to look forward to.  He spoke of you fondly.

Our mother, Karen, passed away back in 2010, and the years following would see Dad move from his longtime home in Lethbridge to Magrath.  He missed his friends and as such a social man, would understandably get lonely.  That all changed when he started dating and ultimately married a lovely young lady he called Miss Sterling.  Kathy and Dad spent time traveling, watching lots of movies and visiting family and friends.  

KATHY: my brothers and I are so happy you brought so much joy and companionship to my Dad’s life this past year.  Of course we wish you could have spent more time together on road trips, going to movies, or camping?… but I’m glad you got to spend this time together.

Dad and his siblings decided they needed to organize a bi-annual family reunion so we’d be guaranteed to see each other at least every other year.  Our next reunion will mark 40 years of this tradition.  Dad looked forward to attending the reunion this spring, and when he was first diagnosed with Bone Cancer earlier this year and told him he only had a few months to live, he set his sights on the reunion in July and made it his goal to attend.  He did attend the reunion and got to spend time with his loving family.  Attending this event seemed to give his spirits and health a boost which lasted for several weeks after we’d all returned home.

Gary Lee Harker was many things to many people.  Scouter, home teacher, reporter, editor, writer, Kyle’s Dad, census taker, Curmudgeon, T.O.P.S. president, award winning actor… but at his core Dad was a happy man who simply loved life, and loved living... and in the end when his body could no longer keep up with everything he wanted to do, well, it was time to go.  We would like to wrap up by leaving you with a favorite poem of Dad’s, one we remember him reciting several times, but mostly at dinner parties.

Pie Problem by Shel Silverstein

If I eat one more piece of pie, I’ll die!

If I can’t have one more piece of pie, I’ll die!

So since it’s all decided I must die,

I might as well have one more piece of pie.

Mmmmm, Ooooh… my!

Chomp – Gulp… ‘bye.

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