Gary Albert Dahl

Gary was the son of Geraldine Hubbell Dahl and Albert Vossler Dahl. Al was a U.S. Navy serviceman, so Gary was born in Seattle. The family moved to Cheney when Al left the Navy to attend EWSC. Gary attended Campus Elementary where he met Mary Miller Everson, a life-long friend. During the time in Cheney Gary welcomed twin sisters Gayle and Gloria; his special delight was harassing them. When Gary was seven, the family moved to a farm in the Amber area, where Gary enjoyed exploring, hunting, swimming, fishing and riding his favorite horse Pee Wee. His youngest sister Geraldine Jill joined the family in 1952. Gary attended grade school at Amber School where he excelled at playing sports. At Amber he met another life-long friend Gertrude Moe who graced the Amber school kids with amazing meals. He was especially proud of getting Gertrude hooked on following college basketball; up until the day he died, he called to tell her the “best” games to watch. Gary graduated from Cheney High School in 1963. He had a special bond with his classmates; at their 50th reunion the class decided to meet for lunch nearly every month. Gary was a gifted high school athlete, lettering in football, basketball and track. When he went to Eastern Washington State College he continued to play football and basketball. Gary joined ROTC at Eastern and planned on entering the army on graduation. Gary married Jennifer Ann Jordan in November of 1966. Their son Ian Lance was born the next year, and they moved to a site on the family farm outside of Cheney. Gary continued to attend EWSC, but was drafted into the U.S. Army in December of 1968. He appeared at Fort Lewis, but they didn’t quite know what to do with him: his hearing wouldn’t permit him to join the regular army corps and his four years of ROTC wasn’t a fit with most basic recruits . . . so he became a drill sergeant in the Army Reserves. Gary left Fort Lewis just in time for the birth of his daughter Carolyn Paige; his second son Albert Vance was born in 1971, carrying on the family given name. In 1969 Gary was hired by Spokane County as a Technical Engineer. He became a project inspector and then a survey crew chief, retiring after 30 years with the County. He enjoyed telling others he had to go to work on Monday too—playing cards at the casino, watching ball games or just puttering around the shop. Gary had many enthusiasms. He was a voracious reader of (mostly) non-fiction. He enjoyed photography, building scale models, drawing, wood-working (he designed and built the home the family lived in), farming (he had to work at the County to support the farm), anything to do with model railroading, auctions, playing cards, target shooting, story-telling and teasing his kids, grandchildren, nieces and nephews. Since Gary grew up the only boy in his family and was the only male cousin on his Mom’s side, it was his special joy to share all of his enthusiasms with his sons and six grandsons—Ethan and Logan Dahl, Vladimir and Victor Lopukhov, and Connor and Jake Dahl. Gary is survived by his wife, Jennifer; son Lance and wife Nancy; daughter Carolyn and husband Sergey; son Albert and wife Shannon; the aforementioned grandsons; granddaughter, Madelon (who shares his love of the farm); sister, Gayle Ferguson who lives near her two daughters Tammy Akers (Anthony) and Twyla Snow in and near Salem; as well as dozens of other nieces and nephews and grand nieces and nephews—he was especially close to those living in Spokane area; maternal cousins Billie Klan, Judy Christensen and Pam Thompson, as well as the cousins from Oklahoma, especially Donald Dahl and his wife, Diane. Gary enjoyed many close friendships including Craig and Kathy Parks, the Monsons and Eversons. The support of all Gary and Jennifer’s friends has been especially important to the family during this time. His parents Geraldine and Al as well as sisters Gloria and Geraldine (Jill) preceded Gary in death. Gary died in Spokane after a short illness. His enthusiasm for life and laughter will be missed. A celebration of Gary’s life will be held in the summer when the family can be together.

Gary Albert Dahl

November 15, 1944 - January 14, 2016