Gary was born in Maryland and grew up on the east coast. After completing a Bachelor’s Degree in Aeronautical Engineering at West Virginia University in 1972, he joined the Air Force and was stationed in the Sacramento area, at the former Mather Air Force Base. In 1976 he met Tina, who was then a music student at University of the Pacific in Stockton. They were married in 1978.
Gary completed a Masters Degree at Cal State Sacramento in 1979. He continued service with the Air Force with assignments in Florida and Arizona, and multiple temporary assignments in Europe. He retired from the military in 1997 and began a second career with the Nevada County government as a computer network engineer. He retired from that position in 2019.
Gary has served in various church music groups and choirs since in high school. He began a long-term association with the Church of England in 1978 when Tina attended summer school at the Royal School of Church Music. He subsequently served as a lay-reader in the Dioceses of the Central Gulf Coast, Arizona, Northern California, and in the Diocese of Ipswich (England). Gary has been licensed as a lay-preacher, lay eucharistic minister, worship leader, and healing minister. He has also served multiple terms on Vestries in Arizona and Northern California.