Gary is survived by his sister Joy Nisgard; daughter, Elizabeth (Michael Gaudet) and Liz’s family: Chad Dunn, Nicky Dunn and their family Kylee, Kyra, and Josh Dunn; son, Bob Ward (Jude Haller) and his family Catherine (John Stewart), Mackenize, and Brody; and son, Gary Ward (Michelle Elder) and their family Courtney (Jared Koch), Levi and Abigail, Brittany and Lindsay.

Gary was predeceased by his loving wife of 65 years who he loved and missed dearly since her passing in 2021. Gary was also predeceased by his son-in-law Gordon Wiggil, his brother-in-law John Nisgard, and his very special nephew Mike Schimanski.

Dad grew up in the Crowsnest Pass, Bellevue, AB. His favorite past time when he was young was hiking the trails in the mountains with his dog. As he grew older, he worked in the mines and the local bakery. Many don’t know this but there was a gang called the Night Riders who rode horses in Bellevue. Dad would tell us stories of his gang and the trouble they would get into with the law. We laugh now at those stories but eventually his mom sent him to live in Calgary to live with his aunt to get his away from the trouble. The Night Riders were well known in the Pass as trouble makers. As far as we know dad was the last member of the gang until his passing.

Dad met mom through family members who were pen pals. They eventually married in 1955 and recently, celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary before mom passed away. After they were married, they lived in the Pass for a while but eventually work was hard to find so they moved to Calgary and then settled in Lethbridge. This is where dad eventually got on with the City of Lethbridge and drove city bus for 32 years, retiring in 1993. Over the years, they enjoyed camping and spending time with their children and grandchildren.

We would like to say a special thank you to Dr. Lagadin, the nurses and caregivers of Floor 4B at the Chinook Regional Hospital for their professional help with Dad. Their kindness, warmth, compassion, and manners were absolutely amazing.

As per Dad’s wishes, we will be having a private service. In dad’s memory, donations can be made to the Canadian Cancer Society (cancer.ca)