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| Carol and her cousin Gary. |
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| Photo I took during our first visit to Honolulu. Gary's prized cars: two Vettes and a Camaro. |
Thursday, November 2, 2017
The "So Why Were Her Eyes Drawn To The Page?" Story
It was an ordinary day. Sitting in my lounge chair checking out the day's obituaries in the local newspaper. What? You don't do that? That's because you're too young! When you reach my age you have to see how many of your friends made it through another day, as I did. I saw what looked like a familiar name and asked Carol if she knew so and so. She looked over my shoulder at the photograph and said, "I think you remember him from the Hamilton Club when we used to help with Town Fair at church. Didn't you take the prime rib over to the club for them to prepare it?" "Yes, that's it," I replied. Then, a second later, while still looking at the page, she said, "Oh my gosh! My cousin died! Gary died!" For those of you who have been reading my blog for the past 8 years, you may remember a few stories I had written about Carol's cousin Dr. Gary Greenly who lived in Honolulu since 1987. Gary was born in 1954 and died on October 12th of this year. Took a couple of weeks for the obituary to find its way to his hometown of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I had Gary as a student when he was in 9th grade at Manheim Townshop High School. Little did I know at the time that I would one day marry his cousin. Upon graduation he became a beautician as his mother, Carol's Aunt Bea.
Evidently he didn't enjoy that so he went to chef's school and began working in the food trades. Once again, he wasn't happy so he became a conductor on an Amtrak train. Wasn't long before he went to medical school and years later became an Osteopathic Doctor. Did his residency on the island of Oahu and when his protege decided to retire, he took over for her in Honolulu. In 1999 when I retired from teaching, Carol and I decided to go to Hawaii with five other friends and knew we just had to stop to visit Gary in Honolulu. Wasn't long before we met him once again along with his girlfriend and her children. He took us to his home and he and I hit it off right away, since he had two Corvettes and a '68 Camaro with a 409 c.i. engine. Took me for a ride in the Camaro and didn't hold back. Later that evening we met for supper at Roy Yamaguchi restaurant. Gary, along with his girlfriend and his dad who was Carol's Uncle Leroy who had moved to the island after his wife Bea died, ordered the entire meal for us. Had a great time catching up on years and years of memories. We visited Gary once again a few years later on another trip to the island, but had not seen him again since that time.
Carol was totally shocked when she saw the headline. As we read the obituary together she said, "Who is Richard Fears? Says he was closest to his cousin Richard whom he considered more like a brother. I never heard of Richard Fears. I thought it was Bobby, Gary, Ronnie and me! I didn't know I had another cousin!" The obituary went on to tell of Gary's medical practice in Honolulu for the past 30 years. Seems he had patients from Oahu and the other Hawaiian islancs, Japan and mainland United States. Everyone called him "Doc". Gary was one of the first physicians to participate in the State of Hawaii's Medical Marijuana Program. He strongly supported its use for medicinal purposes. He was the physician for many movie and television stars who filmed in Hawaii as well as being a lover of muscle and sports cars. "Doc" will be missed by so many, not just those under his professional care, but for many others. His quick wit, compassion and generosity were his strong points. Carol and I are on the list of those who will miss him. And, what made me call Carol to my chair to look at the newspaper ... and her to continue down the obituary page and find Gary's story? Maybe Gary was looking over my shoulder also and was witness to what we were doing that morning a few days ago. Wanted to say goodbye to us. Stranger things have happened, you know. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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Hi, My name is Jandy & I was Gary's girlfriend through college & his medical school training in the 70's & 80's. Maybe Carol remembers me? I recently found out about Gary's passing when hurricane Lane hit the Hawaiian islands. When I saw the news of the Hurricane, I thought of Gary & became concerned for his safety, so out of the blue I decided to google him to see if he was in the line of the storm. That’s when I found his obituary. I actually found the obit on 8/22/2018, which was the 1st anniversary of his death. It all seems so surreal. The last time I spoke to him was in 2012. We tried to keep in touch over the years, but life gets busy. So perhaps like you, it was Gary's spirit that moved me to google his name on the anniversary of his death. Perhaps he wanted me to know he passed and to say goodbye. We were each others first love & he will always be close in my heart. He was a wonderful, kind, exceptional man. I'm so glad I found your blog. I don't know why the blog popped up when I googled his name in Lancaster, but here it is & here you are. Thank you so much for writing this! Sending my deepest heartfelt condolences to your family.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately I couldn’t figure out how to set up a profile on here, so I had to post this as ‘unknown’.
ReplyDeleteJandy, So sorry for your loss. Gary was a student in my high school class during one of my first years I taught school. Little did I know that I would meet his cousin and marry her. We visited with Gary and his dad a few times when we visited Hawaii in the past. Thank you for reading my stories. What are the chances of you finding a story about your first love on this site. Was meant to be! Larry
ReplyDeleteThe chances of finding this story were one in a million! When I tried to find this article again, it took me over an hour of searching. The blog didn't come up when I googled Gary's name the 2nd time. The only way I got back here was I remembered your blog title. I have no idea how I found it the first time, but glad I did. Thanks again for sharing this & bringing back memories of long ago. Do you know how he died? He was still young & he took great care of his health. I hope he did not suffer a long illness.
DeleteWe have no idea what caused Gary's death and have no idea how we could find out. He was well liked by everyone who knew him. I can still remember going out to eat with him one evening in 1999 when we traveled to Hawaii for the first time. His girlfriend, father, Carol and I, along with Gary gathered round a table and after we were all seated he stood, raised his hand and snapped his fingers and instantly there was a waiter next to him to take the order. He ordered for all of us, drinks included, and refused payment of any amount when the meal was over. The following day we visited his home and I got to ride with him in one of his Corvettes. Probably the fastest I have ever traveled in a car, including my own Vette. He had finally found his niche in life when he moved to Hawaii to become a physician. I'm sure there are many, many people who still talk of him and his kindness and generosity. Once again, I'm sorry for your loss of Gary and I'm sorry I can't give you any more info that I already have. Larry
ReplyDeleteHello, my name is Paul Fears. I am Richard Fears's son. I would love to talk sometime. I greatly admired the doc. If you would like , send me an email, my address is paul.fears@psfinternational.com.
ReplyDelete