The Reetz family lost a cherished member on July 20, 2018 when Gary Dwight Reetz, 69, passed away peacefully in his Woodland Park, Colorado home, surrounded by his loved ones. Gary was born on October 4, 1948 in Fort Knox, Kentucky to Dwight and Evelyn Reetz. He was the youngest sibling and is survived by three older sisters, Joanne Lockwood, Karen Benjamin, and Vivian Dowey.
His sisters doted on him, influencing him in the way only sisters can. Gary joined the USAF on October 20, 1967. He married the love of his life, Trudy Ann Dolehanty on December 23, 1971 in Germany.
Their son, Brian Jon, was born while they were stationed at Bitburg, Germany. They enjoyed traveling in Europe and hosting adventures for family from the US. Their daughter, Kimberly Lynn, was born in 1978 in Michigan.
Following this time, Gary and his family enjoyed the military way of life, moving with assignments to Illinois, Hawaii, Montana, Florida, and Texas. Gary and Trudy would spend as much time as possible in Michigan and always looked forward to vacations and summers spent there with their large extended family. Gary retired from the USAF on October 31, 1993 as a senior master sergeant, after 26 years of service.
He inspired both Brian and Kim to serve active duty time in the USAF. Upon his retirement from active duty, he accepted a position as the caretaker of The Air Force’s Farish Recreation Area in Woodland Park, Colorado. As the caretaker, he helped military families enjoy fishing, camping, and hiking.
During his twenty years at Farish, he went above and beyond his job description, plowing roads for people in the winter and rescuing lost hikers in the summer. He was the kind of person to drop what he was doing and get out a topographical map if someone was in trouble. In his spare time, he pursued one of his true passions in life, hunting.
Gary was an avid hunter and fisherman, skills he learned from his Uncle Charlie and Aunt Helen, growing up in Michigan. He spent many of his hunting seasons with the best of his friends, Jeff and Anne Bodin and Patts Eaton. They bonded over the seasons and didn’t always stock the freezer, but formed the truest of friendships.
Gary’s life was cut short by cancer, but his legacy will live on through his children and their spouses (Brian and Seema; Kim and Scott), and his grandchildren (Avery, Charlie, Ryan) of whom he was so proud. He and Trudy raised their children to always feel worthy and to find the joy in life. We will think of him when we are hiking in the woods, paddling down a river, swimming in the ocean or dancing with our kids.
We will roll down our truck windows, turn up the radio and sing our hearts out, and we will remember Gary Reetz. We will think of how grateful we were to have you as our husband, father, grandfather, uncle, cousin and friend. His optimism for life was punctuated when in his final moments, he told family: “My life has been a DREAM”.
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